Crown
Hill
National Cemetery
700
West 38th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46208
Phone: (765) 674-0284
FAX: (765) 674-4521 |
Office Hours:
Please contact the Marion National Cemetery at the number listed
below.
Visitation Hours:
Open daily from dawn to dusk. |
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Burial Space: This
cemetery is closed to new interments. However, space may be available
in the same gravesite for eligible family members.
Acreage: 1.4
Number of
Interments Thru Fiscal Year 2005: 795
General Information Kiosk on Site? No
Floral/Ground Regulations: This
Cemetery's Regulations |
Directions from
nearest airport:
Driving
directions from the North, (Ft Wayne, Ind.). Take Interstate 69S
to Indianapolis. Interstate 69S becomes IN-37S. Turn right onto
E 38th Sreet/IN-37S. Continue to follow E 38th St. Turn right at
Clarendon Rd. Cemetery is on the left.
Driving from
the West, (Terre Haute). Take Interstate 70E to Interstate 465N
exit 73B. Take the 38th St. exit (exit 17), towards Indianapolis.
Take the ramp towards Indianapolis, merge onto W 38th St. Make a
left turn at Clarendon Rd. The cemetery is on the left.
Driving Directions
from the East (Ohio). Take Interstate 70W to exit 61 B towards Indianapolis.
Take exit number 85B-A Rural St/Keystone Ave. Turn Right on Keystone
Way, Keystone way becomes N Keystone Ave. Turn left onto E 38th
Street. Turn right onto Clarendon. Cemetery is on the left.
Driving directions
form the South. Take Interstate 65N Indianapolis, Take exit number
116 29th Street Exit toward 30th Street. Take the ramp toward 30th
St. Stay straight to go onto ramp. Turn left on 30th St. Turn slight
right onto Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., St. Turn slight right onto
W 38th St. Make a left at Clarendon Rd. Cemetery is on the left. |
GENERAL INFORMATION
This cemetery is under the
supervision of Marion National Cemetery. Please contact them at the number
listed above.
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HISTORICAL
INFORMATION
Crown Hill National Cemetery
is located 2.8 miles northwest of downtown Indianapolis, Ind., within
the private Crown Hill Cemetery. The national cemetery was established
Sept. 25, 1863. During the Civil War, Union soldiers who died while stationed
at the various camps near Indianapolis and at local hospitals were buried
at nearby Green Lawn Cemetery. However, concern over the limited acreage
and poor maintenance of these facilities led the governor to request a
national cemetery for the city. In 1866, the remains buried at Green Lawn
were reinterred at Crown Hill in a ceremony attended by James A. Ekin,
the deputy quartermaster general. Today, the private Crown Hill is notable
as the third-largest non-government cemetery in America.
In addition to the Union soldiers,
Confederate prisoners were buried at Crown Hill National Cemetery. During
the Civil War there were typically more than 3,500 Confederates held prisoner
at Camp Morton on the north side of Indianapolis. Originally, the principle
mustering, recruiting, and encampment site for many Hoosier regiments.
After the fall of Forts Donelson and Henry in early 1862, thousands of
captured Confederates were sent north to POW camps such as Camp Morton
(others included Camp Butler in Springfield, Ill.; Camp Chase in Columbus,
Ohio; and Camp Douglas in Chicago). About 15,000 prisoners occupied Camp
Morton between 1862 and 1865. Typical of most prison facilities at that
time, Camp Morton was unprepared for the large influx of prisoners. Medical
care, food, and sanitary conditions were inadequate. Between 1862 and
1865, more than 1,700 Confederate deaths at Camp Morton resulted. Still,
the death rates at Camp Morton were lower than most Northern prisons.
After it became the city's
responsibility to find an acceptable burial ground for the Southern dead,
a section of the Green Lawn cemetery was turned over to the government
for burials. After the war, this land was sold to the railroad, and the
remains removed to a mass grave in Section 32 of Crown Hill Cemetery.
In 1989, two Indianapolis police officers initiated an effort to mark
the graves of the Confederate POWs; other groups and individuals joined
in, and in 1993 the new Confederate Memorial was dedicated. Crown Hill
National Cemetery, including the national cemetery tract, was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
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NOTABLE
BURIALS
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FLORAL/GROUNDS
REGULATIONS
Cemetery policies
are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.
Floral arrangements
accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on
the completed grave. Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any
time of the year. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when
it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.
Artificial flowers
and potted plants will be permitted on graves during periods when their
presence will not interfere with grounds maintenance. As a general rule,
artificial flowers and potted plants will be allowed on graves for a period
extending 10 days before through 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial
Day.
Christmas wreaths,
grave blankets and other seasonal adornments may be placed on graves from
Dec. 1 through Jan. 20. They may not be secured to headstones or markers.
Permanent plantings,
statues, vigil lights, breakable objects and similar items are not permitted
on the graves. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments
that are considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery,
or considered hazardous to cemetery personnel. For example, items incorporating
beads or wires may become entangled in mowers or other equipment and cause
injury.
Decorative items
removed from graves remain the property of the donor but are under the
custodianship of the cemetery. If not retrieved by the donor, they are
then governed by the rules for disposal of federal property.
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