Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery was established during the Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, the estate of Robert E. Lee’s wife Mary Anna Custis. The first burials were Union soldiers in 1864, placed deliberately close to the house to prevent the Lee family from reclaiming the property. The estate had been seized by the federal government after the Custis family failed to pay property taxes in person during the war.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a marble sarcophagus on a plaza overlooking Washington, has been guarded continuously by the Army’s 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment since 1937. Nearby, the gravesite of President Kennedy — marked by an eternal flame — was dedicated in 1967 and became one of the most visited memorials in the country within months of opening.