MacArthur Memorial (Norfolk, Virginia)

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198 Bank Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 441-2965
www.macarthurmemorial.org/

Museum commemorating the life and times of one of America's greatest generals.

The main building served as the Norfolk City Hall from the 1850s until the 1960s. It is historic in its own right being the site of the formal surrender of the city to the Union Army in 1862.

While Douglas MacArthur rever really had a hometown since his family moved from one military base to the next, his mother, who was a huge presence in his life, was from Norfolk and he was very familiar with the city. His older brother and his mother's parents are buried in the nearby Cedar Grove Cemetery.

When MacArthur's health began failing, he began looking for a fitting final resting place and repository for his papers and numerous prized possessions from his decades of military life. While several cities made offers, Norfolk offered the city hall building under whose grand rotunda MacArhur and his wife could rest in a dignified setting for all time. He agreed and the memorial was open in time to receive the general's remains shortly after his death. The museum has expanded over the years, and is set to undergo a thorough renovation in 2011.

Jean MacArthur, who lived out her final years in a suite at the Walfdorf-Astoria Hotel, was interred next to the general after her death in the 1990s.