USNA Cemetery and Columbarium (Annapolis, Maryland) | interesting place

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In 1868 the Naval Academy purchased a sixty-seven acre piece of land called Strawberry Hill as part of their efforts to expand after the American Civil War. Within a year of its acquisition part of the property became the cemetery. Since its beginning the cemetery has become the final resting place for Medal of Honor recipients, Superintendents of the Naval Academy, midshipmen, and former employees of the Academy and hundreds more of the nation's veterans.

The cemetery is also home to monuments that do not mark remains, but commemorate the heroism of individuals who gave their life in service to their country. The Jeannette Monument, erected in 1890, is the most notable such monument it was built in memory of the men who lost their lives in the Jeannette Arctic Expedition.

Columbarium
In 1987, the Naval Academy constructed a columbarium adjacent to the cemetery on College Creek. The columbarium was built by the Naval Academy Alumni Association with $500,000 in gifts from alumni and friends of the Academy. This included a major grant from the George and Carol Olmstead Foundation in memory of Jerauld L. Olmstead, Class of 1922. The columbarium offers resting places for those who wish to be inurned at the Naval Academy.

The columbarium is approximately 160 feet long and six feet high on a three-tiered pedestal. All exterior surfaces are white marble. Each niche front is removable by a special key. Niches are assigned in consecutive order and cannot be reserved in advance.

In front of the columbarium stands a memorial donated by the Class of 1937 in honor of the Academy graduates who died in the line of duty and whose bodies were never recovered.

Notable burials

Captain Edward L. Beach, Jr. (1918–2002)
Admiral Arleigh A. Burke (1901–1996)
Union Commander William B. Cushing (1842–1874)
Theodore Gordon Ellyson (1885–1928)
Rear Admiral Wilson F. Flagg (1938–2001)
Ben Hebard Fuller (1870–1937)
Harold Houser (1897–1981)
Admiral Husband E. Kimmel (1882–1968)
Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King (1878–1956)
Joseph M. Reeves (1872–1948)
Rear Admiral Frederick Lois Riefkohl (1889–1969)
Clarence McClusky (1902–1976)
Jesse Wallace (1899–1961)
Lieutenant General Pedro Augusto del Valle, USMC, (1893–1978)
Bandmaster Charles A. Zimmerman (1861–1916)
Senator John McCain (1936–2018)