Sitka National Cemetery

803 Sawmill Creek Rd., Sitka, AK, 99835

GPS Coordinates: 57.054752, -135.324591
County: City and Borough of Sitka
Record count: 1,452

Ownership: National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Directions: Entrance to Sitka National Cemetery lies on the north side of Sawmill Creek Blvd., at the intersection with Jeff Davis St., in the City of Sitka.

Background: Gen. Jefferson C. Davis laid out the cemetery at Sitka in the late 19th century. Most of the interments were soldiers and sailors from the Marine base and Naval hospital. Subsequently, the land was loaned to the U.S. Department of the Interior as a home for indigent prospectors. From 1912 until 1921, the cemetery was practically abandoned and a dense growth of trees and underbrush grew up almost obscuring the site. In 1920, representatives of the Sitka American Legion post wrote to the Secretary of War calling attention to the neglected cemetery and asking for remedial action; they were told no funds were available. In 1921, they appealed to the Secretary of the Navy, who allocated $1,200 toward reconditioning the site.

In 1922, the Secretary of the Navy turned the issue of cemetery maintenance over to the War Department. In June 1924, upon the recommendation of the Alaska governor and the American Legion, President Calvin Coolidge signed an executive order designating the site Sitka National Cemetery. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 7, 2012.

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Sitka National Cemetery, Sitka, AK