Winchester National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses, and as of the end of 2005, it had 5,561 interments. It is closed to new interments.HistoryThe land around Winchester National Cemetery was used for burials as early as 1862, but after the Civil War additional land was appropriated by the federal government and it was officially dedicated on April 8, 1866. The land was not legally transferred to the U.S. government until Dec. 1, 1870, when the landowner, Jacob Baker, was paid $1,500 for the 4.89acre tract and the deed was signed and executed.Numerous Union soldiers from surrounding battlefields were reinterred here, including those from the different battles of Winchester, the Battle of Front Royal, Battle of New Market, Battle of Harpers Ferry, as well as actions at Snickers Gap, Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Romney, West Virginia.The cemetery grounds underwent significant renovations during the 1930s, adding walls, maintenance buildings, and improving the headstones.Winchester National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
