Lexington National Cemetery
833 West Main Street
Lexington, Ky 40508
Phone: (859) 885-5727
FAX: (859) 887-4860
To schedule burials: See General Information
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Office Hours:
Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Closed federal holidays.
Visitation Hours:
Open daily from dawn to dusk.
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Burial Space: This cemetery is closed to new interments. However, space may be available in the same gravesite for eligible family members.
Acreage: 0.8
Number of Interments
Thru Fiscal Year 2008: 1,390
General Information Kiosk on Site? No
Floral/Ground Regulations
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Directions from nearest airport:
Cemetery is located in the city of Lexington. The nearest airport is Lexington Blue Grass Airport. Take Versailles Road to Circle 4 West to Leestown Road onto Lexington's Main Street. The National Cemetery is located within the Lexington Cemetery.
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GENERAL INFORMATION To schedule a burial: Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
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HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Lexington National Cemetery originated in 1861 as a small soldier’s lot within Lexington City Cemetery, a place that in its heyday was considered “one of the most beautiful and carefully kept rural cemeteries in the United States.” The first burial in the soldier’s lot was made during the Civil War on Nov. 28, 1861. In 1863, the soldiers’ lot was designated a national cemetery. In 1867, the government purchased an additional 0.38 acres that doubled the cemetery’s size to its current three-quarters of an acre.
The cemetery tract is triangular, with graves arranged in concentric circles. Its boundaries are marked by carved marble posts emblazoned with “US.” A bronze plaque identifies this property as Lexington National Cemetery. Of the original burials, 671 were non-commissioned officers and privates who died in hospitals or camps operating around Lexington during the war. After the war, Quartermaster Corps personnel were charged with locating all Union soldier’s remains and re-interring them in national cemeteries. Additional soldiers who had fallen in battles at Falmouth, Cynthiana, Mount Sterling, Paris and along the Kentucky Central Railroad line were buried at Lexington National Cemetery.
The soldier’s portion closed to burials in 1939, but it and the surrounding city cemetery remain a neatly maintained and picturesque burial ground. It was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Monuments and Memorials
By 1869, a 32-pound seacoast artillery gun was mounted vertically as a memorial, like those found in many other national cemeteries, but it was removed early in the 20th century. There are no monuments or memorials in the cemetery today.
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NOTABLE PERSONS
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FLORAL/GROUNDS REGULATIONS
Please contact the cemetery directly for information on their floral regulations.
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