Baton Rouge National Cemetery

Baton Rouge National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in East Baton Rouge Parish, in the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It encompasses 7.7 acres (3.1 ha), and as of 2020, had over 5,000 interments.

Baton Rouge National Cemetery
Cemetery entrance, c. 1899
Baton Rouge National Cemetery is located in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge National Cemetery
Location220 North 19th Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Coordinates 30°26′59″N 91°10′04″W
Area7.7 acres (3.1 ha)
Built1867
Architectural styleColonial Revival
MPSCivil War Era National Cemeteries MPS
NRHP reference No.97000768[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 09, 1997

The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 9, 1997.[1]

History
Massachusetts Monument by John Wilson Baton Rouge National Cemetery

Burials in the cemetery grounds took place as early as 1830, but the site was predominantly used during the Civil War to bury soldiers who died in Baton Rouge and the surrounding battlefields, including Plaquemine and Camden. It became an official National Cemetery in 1867,[2]: 79  and rewards were given to anyone who reported the grave of a Union soldier, so that his remains could be reinterred in the cemetery.[2]: 79  First superintendent was Henry W. Taylor, a discharged 1st Sergeant of Company B, 45th Infantry Regiment.[3][4]

In 1878 two men, Michael and Bernard Jodd, were hired to build a brick wall around the cemetery, which was previously enclosed by a picket fence, but before it was completed, both men contracted yellow fever and died in September 1878. They were interred in the cemetery and the wall was completed by local laborers. The wall was surfaced with stucco in 1936. The entrance on North 19th Street is protected by a double iron gate built in 1933.[3][4]

Massachusetts Monument

The cemetery contains a commemorative monument, erected in 1909 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and built by J. N. White and Sons. The monument celebrates the memory of officers of 31st and 41st Infantry and of the men from Massachusetts who lost their lives in the Department of the Gulf during the Civil War.[3][4]

Notable interments

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. Faye., Phillips (2012). Baton Rouge cemeteries. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub. ISBN 9780738591841. OCLC 803992496.
  3. "Baton Rouge National Cemetery" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018. with four photos and two maps Archived 2018-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Therese T. Sammartino (June 2, 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Baton Rouge National Cemetery". National Park Service. Retrieved May 7, 2018. With 23 photos from 1997.
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