GENERAL INFORMATION

Finns Point National Cemetery is a satellite cemetery in the Beverly National Cemetery complex. Requests for interments and information should be directed to the Beverly National Cemetery at the telephone number listed above.

Military Funeral Honors
The funeral director arranges Military Funeral Honors for families that request them.
back to top

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Finn’s Point National Cemetery is located about six miles northwest of Salem, N.J., at the north end of what was Fort Mott Military Reservation. Today, the picturesque cemetery is entirely surrounded by the Killchohook National Wildlife Refuge and is adjacent to Fort Mott State Park. Originally, the United States purchased the land for the construction of the Finn’s Point Battery to protect the Port of Philadelphia. By 1863, however, the grounds increasingly served as a burial site for Confederate prisoners of war who died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware.

Fort Delaware was on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, one mile east of Delaware City. The island was named after a colonial-era tale that a boat loaded with peas ran aground on a river shoal, and the peas sprouted in the sandy loam. In 1847, Congress appropriated $1 million to construct the largest modern coastal defense fort in the nation here, surpassing Fort Sumter in size, to protect the ports of Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia. In April 1862, Fort Delaware received its first POWs—358 Confederate soldiers from the Battle of Kernstown, Va. By January 1866 when the prison closed, approximately 22,773 men occupied the fort, including soldiers, officers and other prisoners.

An estimated 2,502 men died while imprisoned at Fort Delaware. Even prior to its designation as a national cemetery, the remains of POWs were transported to Finn’s Point across the river for burial. When weather or ice made trips to the mainland hazardous, it was necessary to bury the bodies on Pea Patch Island. On May 12, 1875, Virginia Gov. James L. Kemper wrote to the secretary of war concerning the neglected Confederate graves on Pea Patch Island. In response, Gen. E.D. Townsend advised the governor that Finn’s Point would be made a national cemetery and the remains of soldiers—both Union and Confederate—would be reinterred there. Finn’s Point was official declared a national cemetery Oct. 3, 1875.

Today, the small cemetery is nearly surrounded by tidal marshes and tall grass that encroach the stone enclosure walls. The Meigs lodge is a particularly elegant construction of stone with contrasting quoins and other architectural details. Finn’s Point National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Monuments and Memorials
The Union Monument was installed in 1879 in memory of 135 Union guards who died while on duty at Fort Delaware and who were interred at the cemetery.

The Confederate Monument was erected by the U.S. government in 1910 to memorialize Confederate soldiers buried at the cemetery. The 85-foot tall concrete and granite obelisk features bronze tablets listing the names of 2,436 Confederate prisoners of war who died at Fort Delaware during the Civil War.
back to top

NOTABLE PERSONS

back to top

FLORAL/GROUNDS REGULATIONS

Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.

Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.
Artificial flowers and potted plants will be permitted on graves during periods when their presence will not interfere with grounds maintenance. As a general rule, artificial flowers and potted plants will be allowed on graves for a period extending 10 days before through 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.

Christmas wreaths, grave blankets and other seasonal adornments may be placed on graves from Dec. 1 through Jan. 20. They may not be secured to headstones or markers.

Permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, breakable objects and similar items are not permitted on the graves. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments that are considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery or considered hazardous to cemetery personnel. For example, items incorporating beads or wires may become entangled in mowers or other equipment and cause injury.

Permanent items removed from graves will be placed in an inconspicuous holding area for one month prior to disposal. Decorative items removed from graves remain the property of the donor but are under the custodianship of the cemetery. If not retrieved by the donor, they are then governed by the rules for disposal of federal property.
back to top