Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Details
Established	1826
Location	Saint Louis County, Missouri
Country	United States
Coordinates	38°29′52″N 90°17′18″W / 38.49778°N 90.28833°WCoordinates: 38°29′52″N 90°17′18″W / 38.49778°N 90.28833°W
Type	United States National Cemetery
Size	331 acres (134 ha)
Number of graves	188,000+
Website	Official
Find a Grave	Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Mehlville, Missouri
Area	295.7 acres (119.7 ha)
Built	1866
Architectural style	Late Victorian
MPS	Civil War Era National Cemeteries MPS
NRHP Reference #	98000840[1]
Added to NRHP	July 9, 1998

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a formal network of military cemeteries. It started as the Jefferson Barracks Military Post Cemetery in 1826 and became a United States National Cemetery in 1866.

The first known burial was Elizabeth Ann Lash, the infant child of an officer stationed at Jefferson Barracks.

The cemetery is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the former site of Jefferson Barracks. It covers 331 acres (134 ha) and the number of interments as of 2014 is approximately 188,000. The cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Notable interments

• Medal of Honor recipients
  • Major Ralph Cheli, for heroism while leading a bombing mission in World War II.
  • Donald D. Pucket, pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces, for action World War II
• Other notable individuals
  • First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie, previously interred as the "Vietnam unknown soldier" at the Tomb of the Unknowns, reinterred here after DNA testing positively identified his remains
  • Jack Buck, former St. Louis Cardinals baseball announcer
  • The last living Spanish–American War Veteran Peter J. Cook.
  • Franklin Gritts, Cherokee artist and art director of the Sporting News
  • Johnnie Johnson, pioneering rock musician
  • Robert McFerrin Sr. (1921–2006). Opera singer
  • 1LT Thomas Meehan III, Member of "Easy" Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, Portrayed in HBO's Band of Brothers
  • Henry Townsend (1909–2006). Musician
  • Three veterans of the American Revolution buried in the Old Post Section:
    • Private Richard Gentry, veteran of the Revolutionary and the Indian Wars. He was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
    • Major Russell Bissell, veteran of the Revolutionary and Indian Wars.
    • Colonel Thomas Hunt, a "Minuteman" at the Battle of Concord, April 1775. During the revolution he was wounded at the Battle of Stony Point and Siege of Yorktown. He was also a veteran of the Indian Wars and commanded the 1st Infantry Regiment.
• Other burials of note
  • Mass grave of sixty-one merchant marines and sailors who died in the fire aboard the SS J. Pinckney Henderson on August 19, 1943.
  • Remains of 5 crewman from B36 Bomber 075 lost on the coast of British Columbia Canada while conducting a training mission on February 13, 1950

Aerial View of Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and Jefferson Barracks Bridge

References

1. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

External links

• Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
• St. Louis County: Jefferson Barracks
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. MO-1938, "Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, 2900 Sheridan Road, Green Park, St. Louis County, MO", 16 photos, 20 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
• Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. MO-2, "Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, 2900 Sheridan Road, Green Park, St. Louis County, MO", 43 photos, 4 photo caption pages
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery