National Cemetery, Fayetteville

By the beginning of the Civil War, Fayetteville had become a prosperous community. One Union soldier described it as "a beautiful little hamlet nestling among the foothills of the Ozark range...the chief education center of the state, the home of culture, refinement and that inborn hospitality so characteristic of the South." On April 18,1863, this tranquility was interrupted by the Battle of Fayetteville.

In 1867, the first 5 acres for the national cemetery were purchased from local residents. The original layout of the cemetery, according to a sketch, is of an outer circle surrounding a six-pointed star, a 'compass rose,' with diamonds between the points of the star and a flagpole in the center. There were 18 sections with an estimated capacity of 1,800 graves. During World War II, the layout was revised and five sections were added.

The first burials were the remains disinterred from local Civil War battlefields such as Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and Elk Horn Tavern. Interments were originally made with the headstone and inscription facing the flagpole. An inspection report dated May 1871 states there were 1,210 interments in the cemetery, "the greater portion being unknown white soldiers." When the new sections were added in the mid-20th century cemetery, the placement of headstones was altered so that the inscriptions face the interred remains.

Thanks to efforts by the citizenry, the cemetery was expanded in 1990.

Fayetteville National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 28, 1999 and later added to the Civil War Discovery Trail.