Presidential Grave Sites: Maintenance and Congressional District Locations

Order Code RS21005

Updated January 16, 2007

Presidential Grave Sites: Maintenance and

Congressional District Locations

Joseph J. Schwarz

Information Research Specialist

Knowledge Services Group

Summary

This report1 lists all U.S. Presidents, their terms of service, information concerning

their grave sites, such as the address and the congressional districts of the grave sites,

and the names and the telephone numbers of the burial locations or organizations or

groups that maintain the burial sites. Information on presidential wreath laying

ceremonies is also included. This report will be updated as events warrant.

Introduction

Reports of private and state run organizations experiencing financial difficulty in

maintaining the nation’s historic grave sites of former U.S. Presidents have caused

concern in Congress.2 Consequently, legislation was proposed in the 107th Congress, H.R.

2806, to provide federal assistance to help the various federal agencies and private and

state run organizations in maintaining the nation’s presidential grave sites, but it died in

committee. Currently, no legislation has been introduced on this issue in the 110th

Congress.

The grave sites of U.S. Presidents are either maintained by the federal or a state

government or a private organization or foundation. Privately owned presidential grave

sites can be maintained by the descendants of a former President’s family, by a private

association or corporation, or by a church or memorial foundation. Presidential grave

sites, which are not maintained privately, are maintained by the state government, the state

historical society or a federal government agency such as the U.S. Department of

Veterans Affairs, the U.S. National Park Service, the U.S. National Archives and Records

Administration, and the U.S. Army.

1

2

This report originally was authored by Marilyn L. Nelson (retired) and Thomas Coipuram Jr.

Doug Pokorski, “Presidents’ Gravesites May Win Federal Funding: Proposals to go Before

Congress,” The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), July 27, 2001, p. 13.

CRS-2

Currently, only 10 of the 37 presidential grave sites are maintained by the federal

government.3 Due to the high number of privately managed presidential grave sites and

the cost involved in maintaining them, federal assistance may be necessary in the upkeep

and preservation of these presidential grave sites.4 One of the costs currently being

absorbed by the U.S. Army is the annual presidential wreath-laying ceremony at the grave

site on the birthday of the deceased President. Thirty wreaths are laid on the grave sites

of 29 Presidents in a formal ceremony as mandated by Army regulations. (One wreath

is laid at the Lincoln Memorial and another at the grave site in Springfield, Illinois.) The

laying of wreaths on presidential grave sites had been a tradition for many years before

it was written into Army Regulation 360-61 of October 15, 1980.5

The table below lists all the U.S. Presidents, their terms of service, information

concerning their grave sites, such as the address and the congressional districts of the

grave sites, and the names and the telephone numbers of the burial locations or

organizations or groups that maintain the burial sites.

Table 1. Presidential Grave Sites

President and Term

of Office

Burial Site Location

Maintenance

Cong.

Dist.

George Washington

1789-1797

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon, VA 22121

Tel. 703-780-2000

Mount Vernon

Ladies’ Association

VA

8th

John Adams

1797-1801

United First Parish Church

1306 Hancock Street

Quincy, MA 02169

Tel. 617-773-1290

United First Parish

Church

MA

10th

Thomas Jefferson

1801-1809

Monticello

Charlottesville, VA 22902

Tel. 434-984-9822

Thomas Jefferson

Memorial Foundation

VA

5th

James Madison

1809-1817

Montpelier

11407 Constitution Highway

Montpelier Station, VA 22957

Tel. 540-672-2728

Montpelier

Foundation

VA

7th

James Monroe

1817-1825

Hollywood Cemetery

412 South Cherry Street

Richmond, VA 23220-6214

Tel. 804-648-8501

Nonprofit

corporation

VA

3rd

3

Jones, Jack B., and Joy E. Jones, On the Trail of the Presidents: An Historical Guide to Burial

Sites and Monuments (San Luis Obispo, CA, J. B. and J. E. Jones, 1994).

4

Kurt Erickson, “U.S. May Shoulder Cost of Presidents’ Graves Upkeep,” The Pantagraph

(Bloomington, IL), July 26, 2001, p. A6.

5

U.S. Department of the Army, Army Public Affairs Program, Army Regulation 360-1. Appendix

I, “Presidential Wreath-Laying Ceremony,” Oct. 15, 2000.

CRS-3

Burial Site Location

Maintenance

Cong.

Dist.

John Quincy

Adams

1825-1829

United First Parish Church

1306 Hancock Street

Quincy, MA 02169

Tel. 617-773-1290

United First Parish

Church

MA

10th

Andrew Jackson

1829-1837

The Hermitage

4580 Rachel’s Lane

Nashville, TN 37076

Tel. 615-889-9909

Ladies Hermitage

Association

TN

5th

Martin Van Buren

1837-1841

Kinderhook Cemetery

U.S. Highway 9

Kinderhook, NY 12106

Tel. 518-758-6401

Kinderhook

Reformed Church

NY

22nd

William Henry

Harrison

1841-1841

William Henry Harrison

Memorial

U.S. Route 50

North Bend, Ohio 45052

Tel. 614-297-2630

Ohio Historical

Society

OH

1st

John Tyler

1841-1845

Hollywood Cemetery

412 South Cherry Street

Richmond, VA 23220

Tel. 804-648-8501

Nonprofit

corporation

VA

3rd

James Polk

1845-1849

State Capitol Grounds

Capitol Hill

Nashville, TN 37243

Tel. 615-741-2901

State of Tennessee

TN

5th

Zachary Taylor

1849-1850

Zachary Taylor

National Cemetery

4701 Brownsboro Road

Louisville, KY 40207

Tel. 502-893-3852

Department of

Veterans Affairs

KY

3rd

Millard Fillmore

1850-1853

Forest Lawn Group

1411 Delaware Avenue

Buffalo, NY 14209

Tel. 716-885-1600

Private nonprofit

corporation

NY

29th

Franklin Pierce

1853-1857

Old North Cemetery

Concord, NH 03302

Tel. 603-224-5984

Old North Cemetery/

Pierce Manse

NH

2nd

James Buchanan

1857-1861

Woodward Hill Cemetery

538 E. Strawberry Street

Lancaster, PA 17602

Tel. 717-295-7220

Private nonprofit

corporation

PA

16th

President and Term

of Office

CRS-4

President and Term

of Office

Burial Site Location

Maintenance

Cong.

Dist.

Abraham Lincoln

1861-1865

Lincoln Tomb

State Historic Site

Oak Ridge Cemetery

1500 Monument Avenue

Springfield, IL 62702

Tel. 217-782-2717

Illinois Historic

Preservation Agency

IL

20th

Andrew Johnson

1865-1869

Andrew Johnson

National Cemetery

U.S. Route 411

Greenville, TN 37744

Tel. 423-638-3551

U.S. National Park

Service

TN

1st

Ulysses S. Grant

1869-1877

General Grant

National Memorial

Riverside Drive at W. 122nd

New York, NY 10027

Tel. 212-666-1640

U.S. National Park

Service

NY

15th

Rutherford B. Hayes

1877-1881

Rutherford Hayes Home

1337 Hayes Avenue

Fremont, OH 43420

Tel. 419-332-2081

Rutherford B. Hayes

Presidential Center in

conjunction with

Ohio Historical

Society

OH

5th

James A. Garfield

1881-1881

Lake View Cemetery

12316 Euclid Avenue

Cleveland, OH 44106

Tel. 216-421-2665

Private

OH

11th

Chester A. Arthur

1881-1885

Albany Rural Cemetery

12204 Cemetery Avenue

Albany, NY 12204

Tel. 518-463-7017

Nonprofit

corporation

NY

21th

Grover Cleveland

1885-1889

Princeton Cemetery

29 Greenview Avenue

Princeton, NJ 08542

Tel. 609-924-1369

Nassau Presbyterian

Church

NJ

12th

Benjamin Harrison

1889-1893

Crown Hill Cemetery

700 West 38th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46208

Tel. 317-925-8231

Nonprofit

corporation

IN

10th

Grover Cleveland

1893-1897

Princeton Cemetery

29 Greenview Avenue

Princeton, NJ 08542

Tel. 609-924-1369

Nassau Presbyterian

Church

NJ

12th

CRS-5

President and Term

of Office

Burial Site Location

Maintenance

Cong.

Dist.

William McKinley

1897-1901

McKinley Memorial

Mausoleum

Seventh Street N.W. and

Monument Road

Canton, Ohio 44701

Tel. 330-455-7043

Stark Country

Historical Society

OH

16th

Theodore Roosevelt

1901-1909

Young’s Memorial Cemetery

Cove Road and Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay, NY 11771

Tel. 516-922-1474

Private corporation

NY

3rd

William H. Taft

1909-1913

Arlington National Cemetery

Fort Myer, VA 22211

Tel. 703-695-3175

U.S. Army

VA

8th

Woodrow Wilson

1913-1921

Washington Cathedral

Wisconsin Avenue and

Woodley Road

Washington, D.C. 20016

Tel. 202-537-5550

Protestant Episcopal

Cathedral Foundation

Wash.

DC

Warren G. Harding

1921-1923

Harding Memorial

U.S. Route 23 and Vernon

Heights Boulevard

Marion, OH 43302

Tel. 740-387-9630

Ohio Historical

Society

OH

4th

Calvin Coolidge

1923-1929

Plymouth Notch Cemetery

South of Route 100A

Plymouth, VT 05056

Tel. 802-672-3773

State of Vermont

VT

Herbert Hoover

1929-1933

Herbert Hoover

National Historical Site

210 Parkside Drive

West Branch, IA 52358

Tel. 319-643-2541

U.S. National Park

Service

IA

1st

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1933-1945

Franklin D. Roosevelt

National Historic Site

4097 Albany Post Road

Hyde Park, NY 12538

Tel. 914-229-9115

U.S. National Park

Service

NY

22nd

Harry S. Truman

1945-1953

Harry S. Truman

Presidential Museum and

Library

500 W. U.S. Route 24

Independence, MO 64050

Tel. 816-833-1400

U.S. National

Archives and

Records

Administration

MO

6th

At large

CRS-6

President and Term

of Office

Burial Site Location

Maintenance

Cong.

Dist.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1953-1961

Eisenhower Center

S.E. Fourth Street

Abilene, KS 67410

Tel. 785-263-4751

U.S. National

Archives and

Records

Administration

KS

1st

John F. Kennedy

1961-1963

Arlington Cemetery

Fort Myer, VA 22211

Tel. 703-695-3175

U.S. Army

VA

8th

Lyndon B. Johnson

1963-1969

Lyndon B. Johnson

National Historical Park

Johnson City, TX 78671

Tel. 830-868-7128

U.S. National Park

Service

TX

21st

Richard M. Nixon

1969-1974

Richard M. Nixon

Library and Birthplace

18001 Yorba Linda Blvd.

Yorba Linda, CA 92886

Tel. 714-993-3393

Richard M. Nixon

Library and

Birthplace

Foundation

CA

41st

Gerald R. Ford

1974-1977

Gerald R. Ford Museum

303 Pearl Street NW

Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Tel. 616-451-9263

Gerald R. Ford

Foundation

MI

3rd

Jimmy Cartera

1977-1981

To be determined

Ronald Reagan

1981-1989

Ronald Reagan

Presidential Library

40 Presidential Drive

Simi Valley, CA 93065

Tel. 800-410-8354

U.S. National

Archives and

Records

Administration

CA

23rd

George H. W. Busha

1989-1993

George Bush Presidential

Library and Museum

1000 George Bush Drive W.

College Station, TX 77845

Tel. 979-260-9552

Texas A&M

University

TX

8th

William J. Clintona

1993-2001

To be determined

George W. Bush

2001-

To be determined

Source: Table data compiled by CRS.

a. Living former President.