Arlington National Cemetery was established as a military cemetery during the Civil War in 1864 on 210 acres of Mary Custis Lee’s 1,100-acre Arlington estate. After the end of the Civil War, the Arlington estate was used as a cemetery, military camp, and settlement area for freedmen. The picturesque planning and design of the cemetery is attributable to the direction of Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs during the first decades of the cemetery’s existence. Arlington National Cemetery is also included in the architectural plan of the City of Washington’s monumental core, which includes the Capitol, the National Mall, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and Arlington Memorial Bridge. The Tomb of the Unknowns, placed in 1921, strongly emphasized the memorial nature of the cemetery. Arlington National continues to be used as an active cemetery today, accommodating more than four million visitors a year, and is administered by the Department of the Army, which oversees all burial, maintenance, and visitor services.
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