Fayetteville National Cemetery

GPS Coordinates: 36.052749, -94.168533
County: Washington
Record count: 11,852

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

Directions: Located south west of downtown Fayetteville, take MLK Jr. Blvd (Highway 180) to S Government Ave., and turn south, then follow this road into the cemetery.

Background: In 1867, the first five acres for the national cemetery were purchased from local residents David Walker and Stephen K. Stone. The original layout of the cemetery, according to a sketch, is of an outer circle surrounding a six-pointed star with diamonds between the points of the star and a flagpole in the center. There were eighteen sections with an estimated capacity of 1,800 graves. During World War II, the layout was revised and five sections were added.

The first burials were the remains of Union soldiers disinterred from local Civil War battlefields such as Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and Elk Horn Tavern. Interments were originally made with the headstone and inscription facing the flagpole. An inspection report dated May 1871 states there were 1,210 interments in the cemetery, "the greater portion being unknown white soldiers." When the new sections were added in the mid-20th century cemetery, the placement of headstones was altered so that the inscriptions face the interred remains.

Fayetteville National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 28, 1999 and later added to the Civil War Discovery Trail.

Transcriptions

We have 1 transcription for this cemetery.

• Veterans Affairs Database, compiled by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (11,852 records)