GENERAL INFORMATION

Baltimore National Cemetery is the oversight cemetery for four satellite cemeteries--Annapolis and Loudon Park National Cemeteries, Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery in St. Mary's County, and 800 government-owned lots at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Annapolis, Loudon Park and Pt. Lookout date back to the Civil War. Our sites at Congressional Cemetery date back to 1807.

Military Funeral Honors
Military funeral honors as organized under the Department of Defense military funeral honors program "Honoring Those Who Served," should be arranged through the funeral director. If the funeral director is not involved in making the arrangements for burial, the staff at Baltimore National Cemetery will arrange for military funeral honors.

Local Numbers for Military Funeral Honors:
Air Force - (202) 767-5338
Army - (301) 677-2206
Coast Guard - (301) 769-1600 or (202) 267-0860
Marines - (717) 770-4524
Navy - (301) 677-0860
Maryland National Guard - (410) 576-6133
1st Marine Division, Maryland Chapter - (410) 760-4571
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HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The site occupied by Baltimore National Cemetery was an estate called Cloud Capped (or Cap), which occupied an elevated location adjacent to Frederick Road as early as 1750. The property was part of the holdings of the Baltimore Company and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Residents apparently observed the attacking British fleet sailing toward Fort McHenry in 1814, and sent a messenger to warn the city. In 1890, when Blanchard and Susan Randall acquired the estate as a summer home, its 90 acres were studded with mature specimen trees including spreading beech, white pine, Norway spruce, chestnut and walnut. This early 19th century brick dwelling was enlarged and additions were made over the years.

Nearby, the diminutive 5.2-acre Loudon Park National Cemetery was at or approaching capacity, and additional burial space was needed. At the same time that the War Department was assessing 33 possible sites in the Baltimore area as an extension of Loudon Park, it was also seeking acreage in the New York City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., and El Paso, Texas, areas for new veterans' cemeteries. Once officials selected the gently rolling tract above Baltimore, Congress approved $100,000 for the project.

Conversion of the Cloud Capped estate to a national shrine was the responsibility of the War Department, with work accomplished under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era make-work program. The WPA undertook work at several national cemeteries during its lifetime in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Baltimore property—envisioned as Maryland's "Little Arlington"—was to accommodate 40,000 to 45,000 interments.

The government took possession of the 72.2-acre Cloud Capped in September 1936 at a cost of $95,000, provided in the Army Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1937. Between 1936 and 1938, nearly $400,000 was expended on WPA improvements to Baltimore National Cemetery. Funds were spent on "surveys, roads, gates, fences, razing old mansion, new lodge, utilities, out-buildings, preparing and monumenting grave-sites, and landscaping." An estimated 100-150 men worked on the project between early 1937 and August 1940.

The old mansion was demolished in 1937, and the superintendent's lodge, a two-story Federal Revival building similar to one wing of Cloud Capped, was constructed largely using salvaged materials, and was nearly completed the same year. The new lodge cost $90,000 including WPA labor. A Tudor Revival cottage, intended for an assistant superintendent, was renovated in 1940. The chapel was completed in 1939-40. The granite entrance gates and iron fence was erected in 1937-39 at a cost of $6,625. The first superintendent, G. B. Alexander, went on duty in March 1937.

The first interment was Dec. 18, 1936, although the cemetery was formally dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1941. The dedication ceremonies were to commence in the city's Lafayette Square, led by African-American veterans of World War I, affiliated with American Legion Post No. 14. Today the cemetery is comprised of 72.2 acres.

Monuments and Memorials
There are six monuments representing each of the six Marine Divisions from World War II in the Memorial Area. These monuments are dedicated to all the members of each of the divisions who served in World War II and to the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to this great nation.
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  NOTABLE PERSONS

Medal of Honor Recipients
Fireman, First Class Loddie Stupka, headstone has his name as Laddie (peace time) U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Leydon, Ohio, G.O. No:145, Jan. 21, 1903 (Distinguished Service Section, Grave 1).
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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.
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