Cultural Landscape Report for

Poplar Grove National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Cultural Landscape Report

for Poplar Grove

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Site History

Existing Conditions

Analysis and Evaluation

Treatment

By John Auwaerter

George W. Curry, Project Director

State University of New York

College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

National Park Service, Boston, Massachusetts 2009
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

ii

This report was produced by the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation in 

partnership with the Department of Landscape Architecture at the State University of 

New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York. The 

Olmsted Center promotes the preservation of significant landscapes through research, 

planning, stewardship, and education, and accomplishes its mission in collaboration 

with a network of partners including national parks, universities, government agencies 

and private nonprofit organizations. 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

Boston National Historical Park

Charlestown Navy Yard, Quarters C

Boston, MA 02129

617.241.6954

www.nps.gov/oclp/

This report was prepared under the Great Lakes Northern Forest Cooperative 

Ecosystem Studies Unit Task Agreement J 1851-05-0006, Cooperative Agreement 

CAH6000082000, between the National Park Service and the University of 

Minnesota.

National Park Service, Denver Technical Information Center report NPS 325/100214.

 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Auwaerter, John E. (John Eric), 1964-

 Cultural landscape report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery, Petersburg National 

Battlefield / John Auwaerter, George W. Curry.

 p. cm.

 1. Poplar Grove National Cemetery (Dinwiddie County, Va.) 2. Landscape 

assessment--Virginia--Dinwiddie County. 3. Historic sites--Conservation and 

restoration--Virginia--Dinwiddie County. I. Curry, George W., 1940- II. Title.

 F232.D6A94 2009

 97.5’582--dc22

 2009035509

Publication Credits: Information in this publication may be copied and used with the 

condition that full credit be given to authors and publisher, except where copyright 

protection is noted in the caption. Appropriate citations and bibliographic credits 

should be made for each use. 

Cover Image: Detail, “Plan of National Cemetery, Poplar Grove, Virginia” by the 

Office of the Quartermaster General, 1892. (National Archives, Washington, D. C.)
iii 

Table of contents

List of Figures, drawings, and Tables v

Acknowledgements xi

Foreword xiii

Introduction 1

Purpose, Scope, and Methods 2

Summary of Findings 5

I. Site history 13

Pre-Cemetery Period, to 1866 13

Establishment Period, 1866-1869 33

War Department Period, 1869-1933 57

National Park Service Period, 1933-Present 99

II. Existing conditions 131

Regional Context 131

Environmental Conditions 133

Operations Overview 134

Cemetery Landscape 135

III. Analysis and Evaluation 157

National Register Evaluation 157

Cultural Landscape Evaluation 166

IV. Treatment 205

Framework for Treatment 206

General Treatment Issues 213

Treatment Guidelines and Tasks 217

Reference list 269

(continued)

Table of Contents
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

iv

Appendices 275

A. Abstract of Title for Poplar Grove National Cemetery (1866) 275

B. Poplar Grove Burial Location Plan (c.1954) 277

C. Post-1869 Burials at Poplar Grove National Cemetery 279

D. Chronology of Government Furnished Grave Markers 281

E. Standard Features of Civil War-Era National Cemeteries 283

F. Sample Quarterly Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery 285

G. Chronological List of Plantings at Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery 289

H. Select Chronology of Poplar Grove National Cemetery 297

I. Summary of Regulations, Policies, and Planning Relevant 

 to Treatment of the Poplar Grove National Cemetery Landscape 311

J. Treatment Alternatives Considered for Grave Markers 319

K. List of Research Contacts 325
v 

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables

Figures, Drawings, and tables

Figures

0.1 Regional context of Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 1

0.2 Map showing relationship of Poplar Grove to the City of Petersburg and Petersburg National Battlefield lands. 2

0.3 Photograph looking south on Vaughan Road near Poplar Grove. 2

0.4 Photograph of Poplar Grove looking toward the flagstaff. 3

1.1 Physiographic map of region around Poplar Grove. 13

1.2 “Map of the Most Inhabited Part of Virginia,” Fry & Jefferson, 

1751. 15

1.3 Detail, Colton’s Map of Virginia, c.1850. 17

1.4 Detail, “Correct Map of Dinwiddie County by Ishmae. Hargraves,” 

c.1850. 18

1.5 Map of Petersburg Campaign from Michler survey, c.1890. 19

1.6 Engraving of Poplar Springs Church, 1864. 20

1.7 Engraving of Union troops cutting the military railroad through

pine forests south of Petersburg, 1864.) 20

1.8 Earthworks in front of Petersburg, 1865. 20

1.9 Camp of Oneida, New York Independent Cavalry Company

in Petersburg, March 1865. 21

1.10 Map of the Federal Left Flank in vicinity of the camp of the 50th

New York Volunteer Engineers, 1864-65. 21

1.11 Perspective drawing of the camp of the 50th New York Volunteer

Engineers, 1865. 22

1.12 Photograph of the officers’ quarters courtyard of the engineers’

camp, circa October 1864. 23

1.13 Photograph of the headquarters tent at the engineers’ camp,

November 1864. 23

1.14 Photograph of the rebuilt officers’ quarters courtyard of the 

engineers’ camp, circa December 1864. 24

1.15 Photograph of the Surgeon’s Quarters, March 1865. 24

1.16 Photograph of the officers’ quarters courtyard, March 1865. 24

1.17 Photograph of Poplar Grove Church, March 1865. 25

1.18 Photograph of Poplar Grove Church nearing completion, circa

February 1864. 25

1.19 Sketch looking through the log barracks in the engineers’ camp,

circa March 1865. 26

1.20 Perspective sketch of the engineers’ camp, c.1865. 26

1.21 Photograph of battlefield burials at Warren Station, c.1864. 35
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

vi

1.22 Union Army hospital cemetery at City Point, Virginia, c.1865. 36

1.23 Detail, Quartermaster survey of site for Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery, circa May 1866. 36

1.24 Detail, Quartermaster General map of surroundings of Poplar

Grove National Cemetery, circa May 1866. 37

1.25 A traditional eighteenth-century graveyard, photographed 1936. 38

1.26 Mount Auburn Cemetery, the prototype American rural cemetery. 38

1.27 Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, the prototype lawn-style

cemetery, photographed c.1869. 39

1.28 Plan of Gettysburg National Cemetery. 39

1.29 Photograph of Gettysburg National Cemetery, c.1913. 40

1.30 Photograph of Alexandria National Cemetery, c.1865. 40

1.31 Plan of Glendale National Cemetery, surveyed 1892. 41

1.32 Plan of City Point National Cemetery, surveyed 1892. 41

1.33 Detail of 1866 survey of site for Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 42

1.34 Diagram of layout of Poplar Grove burial grounds. 43

1.35 Example of wooden headboards, photograph of Soldiers’ Home

National Cemetery, photographed c.1865. 45

1.36 Bronze shield on Poplar Grove gun monument installed in circa 

June 1869, photographed 1968. 49

1.37 Detail, Map of Dinwiddie County in 1878. 57

1.38 Drawing of prototype for national cemetery lodges by General

Montgomery Meigs. 61

1.39 Photograph of entrance to City Point National Cemetery, 1902. 62

1.40 Sketch plan of revised location for Poplar Grove lodge, August

1871. 62

1.41 The Poplar Grove lodge, built in 1871-1872. 63

1.42 Diagram of the Poplar Grove service area by 1880. 63

1.43 Photograph of the entrance to Cold Harbor National Cemetery,

1902. 64

1.44 Newspaper advertisement soliciting bids on construction of 

inclosure walls at Poplar Grove and Yorktown national cemeteries,

July 16, 1873. 65

1.45 Survey of Poplar Grove National Cemetery made in February 1876. 66

1.46 Photograph of entrance to Fort Harrison National Cemetery,

1902. 66

1.47 View of Poplar Grove showing headstones and blocks

installed in 1877, photographed c.1930. 69

1.48 Photograph of the center of Poplar Grove, c.1895. 71

1.49 Section diagram showing changes to the Poplar Grove flagstaff and 

mound by 1874. 72
vii 

1.50 Proposal for a settee submitted to the Quartermaster General in 

June 1877. 72

1.51 Quartermaster Plan of Poplar Grove, 1892. 76

1.52 A state monument at Culpeper National Cemetery erected in 1910. 77

1.53 Detail of the 1892 plan of Poplar Grove annotated to 1909 showing

addition of the rostrum and gravel on main drive. 78

1.54 The Poplar Grove rostrum completed in 1897, photographed

1967. 79

1.55 Photograph of the entrance to Poplar Grove, 1904. 80

1.56 Plan of the Poplar Grove toolshed-stable, c.1915. 81

1.57 Photograph of the Poplar Grove burial grounds and main drive,

c.1914. 82

1.58 Map of Petersburg National Battlefield showing general intent 

of c.1926 park plan, from a 1937 map. 84

1.59 The Poplar Grove public restroom building completed in 1929. 86

1.60 The Poplar Grove garage completed in 1929. 86

1.61 Detail of a 1939 photograph showing the new iron flagstaff 

installed in October 1930. 86

1.62 Tree planting plan for Poplar Grove, March 31, 1931. 87

1.63 Photograph of the Poplar Grove burial grounds, February 1932. 89

1.64 1946 map of the area near Poplar Grove. 99

1.65 Aerial photograph taken in 1994 showing development

near Poplar Grove. 100

1.66 Detail of a c.1951 Petersburg Battlefield map showing relationship of Siege Line tour to Poplar Grove. 102

1.67 Article showing practice of resetting headstones as flat markers. 105

1.68 A 1939 photograph of the center of Poplar Grove. 107

1.69 Photograph of Yorktown National Cemetery showing replacement flat markers installed in c.1940. 109

1.70 Plan made in 1937 of proposed tree plantings at Poplar Grove. 

(National Park Service.) 110

1.71 Plan of Poplar Grove from Petersburg National Military Park

master plan, c.1941. 111

1.72 Newspaper photograph of grave markers following rehabilitation 

in 1957. 114

1.73 Photograph of the center of Poplar Grove, July 1968. 115

1.74 Plan of Poplar Grove dating to c.1957 showing designation of

burial grounds by blocks. 116

1.75 A 1968 photograph of the Maltese cross hedge. 116

1.76 A 1968 aerial photograph of the Odom farm surrounding Poplar

Grove. 117

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

viii

1.77 A sketch made in c.1977 showing the Blaha and Peterson houses on

east side of Poplar Grove. 117

1.78 Photograph taken in 1978 looking east across Poplar Grove toward 

the Peterson house. 118

1.79 Plan completed in 1977 for redesign of the cemetery entrance

area. 119

1.80 Survey of the Odom farm showing subdivision and plot offered

for donation to the National Park Foundation in 1987. 120

1.81 Aerial photograph of Poplar Grove, 2004. 121 

2.1 Current map of Petersburg National Battlefield lands showing 

relationship to Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 132

2.2 Map of the existing setting of Poplar Grove. 132

2.3 A suburban house opposite the cemetery entrance, 2006. 133

2.4 Map of current property ownership surrounding Poplar Grove. 136

2.5 Cultivated fields of the R. Taylor farm, 2006. 136

2.6 Barn and pasture of the R. Taylor farm, 2006. 136

2.7 The private drive to the Blaha and Peterson houses, 2006. 137

2.8 The Blaha house, 2006. 137

2.9 The Peterson house, 2006. 137

2.10 Vaughan Road on the approach to Poplar Grove, 2006. 138

2.11 The approach road at the R. Taylor farm, 2006. 138

2.12 The approach road at the Odom tract, 2006. 138

2.13 The Odom cemetery, 2006. 139

2.14 The visitor parking lot, 2006. 139

2.15 The inclosure wall at Block II, 2006. 140

2.16 The drainage opening in the inclosure wall at the cemetery lowpoint, 2006. 140

2.17 The interior of the cemetery entrance gate, 2006. 140

2.18 The outside of the cemetery entrance gate showing plaques, 2006. 141

2.19 A stone boundary marker, 2006. 141

2.20 The north woods with English ivy groundcover, 2006. 141

2.21 The lodge and public restroom building, 2006. 142

2.22 The rostrum during a Memorial Day service, 2005. 142

2.23 The garage and service yard, 2006. 143

2.24 Turf drives and walks in the burial grounds, 2006. 144

2.25 The main drive in the burial grounds, 2006. 144

2.26 The cemetery center with the flagstaff, 2006. 145

2.27 The gun monument, 2006. 145

2.28 A drive marker, 2006. 146

2.29 First-generation recessed-shield headstones, 2005. 147

2.30 Second-generation recessed-shield headstones, 2005. 147

2.31 Unknown blocks, 2005. 148
ix 

2.32 General headstones, 2005. 149

2.33 Government flat markers, 2005. 149

2.34 Medal of Honor bronze flat marker, 2005. 150

2.35 Non-government headstones installed in 1866-1869, 2005. 150

2.36 Non-government headstones installed after 1877, 2005. 150

2.37 Specimen trees in the burial grounds, 2006. 151

2.38 Large sweet-gum tree within a grave row, 2006. 151

2.39 A large white-cedar in Block XI, 2006. 152

2.40 Crape myrtle shrubs east of the flagstaff, 2006. 152

2.41 Remnant boxwood in the former allee between 

Blocks XVIII and XVI, 2006. 152

3.1 Historic natural and spatial characteristics in the setting of 

Poplar Grove illustrated on a c.1969 aerial photograph. 168

3.2 Existing natural and spatial characteristics in the setting of 

Poplar Grove illustrated on a 1994 aerial photograph. 168

3.3 Historic view of the burial grounds in 1932 showing character of

the grave markers and specimen trees. 178

3.4 Existing view of the burial grounds showing change to the landscape from alteration of the grave markers. 178

 4.1 Photograph of Richmond National Cemetery showing high level 

of maintenance carried out by the National Cemetery Administration (Veterans Affairs). 208

4.2 Illustration from the National Cemetery Administration’s 

“Operational Standards and Measures” showing standards

of landscape maintenance. 209

4.3 Photograph of Antietam National Cemetery showing level of

maintenance at a National Park Service-administered national

cemetery, c.2005. 214

4.4 Comparison of the engineers’ camp in 1865 with Poplar Grove

in 1932 showing perpetuation of loblolly pines. 216

4.5 Aerial photograph showing lands around Poplar Grove proposed 

for acquisition in the General Management Plan. 218

4.6 Suggested designs for cemetery entrance signs. 219

4.7 Photograph of the approach to Glendale National Cemetery 

showing similar rural setting proposed for Poplar Grove. 220

4.8 Information wayside at Antietam National Cemetery to 

serve as model for Poplar Grove. 229 

4.9 Current standard government grave markers. 235

4.10 Example of government historical style headstone at Glendale

National Cemetery. 235

4.11 Example of reproduction unknown block at Seven Pines National

Cemetery. 235

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

x

4.12 - 4.23 Examples of marker types at Poplar Grove to illustrate

proposed treatment. 239-40

4.24 Granite section marker at Richmond National Cemetery to

serve as model for Poplar Grove. 241

4.25 Diagram of proposed treatment of central circle area. 243

4.26 The 1931 War Department planting plan for Poplar Grove to serve

as basis for treatment of specimen trees in the burial grounds. 245

4.27 Photograph of Fort Harrison National Cemetery showing alternative placement of grave markers to avoid mature trees, 2006. 247

4.28 A 1939 photograph showing basis for treatment of shrubs in

the burial grounds. 249

4.29 A 1968 photograph showing a historic settee at Poplar Grove and

recommended contemporary design. 251

J.1 Alternative treatment for existing grave markers illustrated at

Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, New York. 322

DRAWINGS 

1.1 Pre-Cemetery Period Plan, Pre-1866. 31

1.2 Establishment Period Plan, 1866-1869. 55

1.3 War Department Period Plan, 1869-1933. 97

1.4 National Park Service Period Plan, 1933-Present. 129

2.1 Existing Conditions Plan, 2008. 155

3.1 Analysis and Evaluation Plan. 203

4.1 Treatment Plan. 261

4.2 Treatment: Cemetery Setting and Approach. 263

4.3 Treatment: Entrance Area. 265

4.4 Treatment: Lodge Grounds. 267 

Tables 

2.1 Existing Grave Marker Tally. 146

3.1 Cultural Landscape Evaluation Summary. 198

4.1 Summary of Landscape Treatment Tasks. 251

4.2 Recommended Plant Materials. 253
xi 

Acknowledgments

The completion of this report owes much to the staff of Petersburg National 

Battlefield, whose knowledge, dedication, and passion for Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery have significantly advanced planning for the long-awaited improvement of this remarkable landscape. The authors would like to especially thank 

Bob Kirby, Superintendent; Betsy Dinger, Park Ranger; Dave Shockley, Chief of 

Resource Management; Chris Calkins, Chief of Interpretation; Greg Sprinkle, 

Exhibit Specialist; and Julia Steele, Cultural Resource Manager, for their direction, 

research assistance, and review of draft materials. The authors would like to thank 

Betsy Dinger in particular for her generous assistance with the history and existing 

conditions of Poplar Grove, and with visits to similar Civil War-era national cemeteries in Virginia. Other park staff assisted with documentation of existing conditions and discussions on treatment of the landscape, including Adam Baghetti, 

GIS Specialist; James Blankenship, Historian; Tracy Chernault, Park Ranger; Grant 

Gates, Park Ranger; Jerry Helton, Facility Manager; Dave Ruth, Acting Superintendent; and Richard Underwood, Electrician. 

As a planning document for a line-item construction project, staff from other National Park Service offices contributed to the management of the project and development of treatment recommendations, including Patrick McDonald, Project 

Manager at the Denver Service Center; and Shaun Eyring, David Uschold, Dennis 

Montagna, Margot Davis, and Jim Harmon at the Northeast Regional Office. 

From the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, the 

authors thank historians Sarah Leach and Jennifer Perunko for their assistance 

with research on national cemetery history, evaluation of existing grave marker 

types, and review of drafts. 

From the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office, the authors thank Ethel 

Eaton and M. Amanda Lee for providing direction on the evaluation of the landscape’s historic significance and review of drafts. 

Lastly, from the National Park Service, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, the authors sincerely thank our project partners Bob Page, Director, and Eliot Foulds, Historical Landscape Architect and Team Leader, for their support and 

many contributions to the development and completion of this cultural landscape 

report. Many thanks also to intern Rose Marques for her careful proofreading of 

the final report, and to Lisa Nowak for coordinating final printing. 

Acknowledgments
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

xii
xiii 

Foreword

Foreword

The Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) for Poplar Grove National Cemetery is 

a remarkable document. John Auwaerter, Historical Landscape Architect at the 

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry 

at Syracuse, has worked in partnership with the Olmsted Center for Landscape 

Preservation to prepare a well researched, artfully presented, and inestimably 

valuable reference and planning guide for the rehabilitation of an historic jewel. 

The CLR offers a blueprint to recapture the nobility and grace of this powerfully 

evocative place. 

Even in its degraded condition, Poplar Grove has a “sense of place” like no 

other historic site in the area. Its bruised but loving character still imparts a stark 

reminder of the cost of the Civil War and the fact that thousands who lie below 

ground there died so early in life. The sadness is palpable. This CLR makes us 

see the landscape for what it once was and has revealed to us what the cemetery 

planners had in mind when they laid out its ordered, yet artful configuration, just 

after the Civil War. 

Of the fourteen national cemeteries under the management of the National 

Park Service, Poplar Grove National Cemetery is the first, to our knowledge, to 

undergo such a comprehensive rehabilitation. This CLR will guide park planners 

and construction project managers through the many nuances of national 

cemetery rehabilitation, burial symbolism, and military tradition so that the final 

product will more meaningfully evoke the sense of loss and provide solace for the 

nation’s loving remembrance of her fallen sons. 

This wonderful collaborative effort will withstand the test of time and help the 

National Park Service return the luster of a faded jewel to the American people. 

Bob Kirby

Superintendent

Petersburg National Battlefield
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

xiv
1 

Introduction

Introduction

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, located south of Petersburg in Dinwiddie 

County, Virginia, was established in 1866 to inter the thousands of fallen Union 

soldiers from the Petersburg Campaign (1864-1865) and other nearby Civil War 

battles in southeastern Virginia. Built on the site of the wartime camp of the 50th

New York Volunteer Engineers, the cemetery takes it name from the camp’s 

central feature, a rustic timber building called Poplar Grove Church. The federal 

government established the cemetery as part of the first systematic national effort 

to provide burial grounds for those who died in service to the country. The U.S. 

War Department administered the cemetery and nearby Petersburg National 

Military Park until 1933, when it transferred both properties to the National 

Park Service within the Department of the Interior. Poplar Grove is today one of 

fourteen of the nation’s 142 national cemeteries within the National Park System. 

The others are managed by the National Cemetery Administration, an agency of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Accessed along a 1,000-foot long approach road flanked by working agricultural 

fields, Poplar Grove National Cemetery contains approximately 6,188 Civil 

War burials in its brick-wall enclosed eight-acre site. Approximately thirty-five 

percent of the burials are marked by white marble headstones inscribed with 

grave number and the name and company of the soldier. Most of the graves at 

Poplar Grove contain the remains of unidentified soldiers and are marked by 

simple square posts inscribed only with the grave number. Poplar Grove remains 

predominantly a Civil War cemetery with only sixty graves containing veterans of 

later wars. Closed to new burials in 1957, Poplar Grove 

still receives reinterment of Civil War remains, the most 

recent occurring in 2003. 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is located on the 

western edge of the Virginia Tidewater region between 

Richmond and the North Carolina border, approximately 

135 miles south of Washington, D.C. and seventy-file 

miles west of the Chesapeake Bay (fig. 0.1). The cemetery 

is five miles southwest of downtown Petersburg in a 

transitional rural-suburban area surrounded by secondgrowth woods, farm fields, and residential development 

(figs. 0.2, 0.3). Poplar Grove is administered as part of 

Petersburg National Battlefield, a park with multiple 

components on the outskirts of the city. The cemetery 

is stop 11 on the park’s Siege Line Tour, which begins at 

the park’s main area on the east side of Petersburg and 

Figure 0.1: Map showing context 

of Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

in the Virginia Tidewater region. 

(SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

2

extends south and west along the line of Union fortifications that encircled the 

city (see fig. 0.2). The cemetery is accessed from an approach road that leads 

across farm fields to the main gates. Within its rectangular boundaries, Poplar 

Grove features a circular plan with graves and drives radiating out from a central 

point marked by a flagstaff. This plan is today not readily visible because the 

National Park Service transformed the marble headstones and blocks into flat 

markers in 1934 (fig. 0.4). Despite this, many other historic features remain intact, 

including a stone Second Empire-style superintendent’s lodge, iron rostrum, 

Colonial Revival-style restroom building and garage, a gun monument (upright 

cannon), central flagstaff, and a brick inclosure (perimeter) wall with granite and 

iron entrance gates. The cemetery includes boxwood, magnolia, holly, oak, and 

loblolly pine that are remnants of a once richly planted landscape.

Purpose, scope, and methods

A Cultural Landscape Report is the primary document used by the National Park 

Service for management of its historically significant landscapes. This report for 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery has been developed according to the Guide 

to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (National 

Park Service, 1998). This report is organized into four chapters: Site History, 

Existing Conditions, Analysis and Evaluation, and Treatment, corresponding 

with the sections of Cultural Landscape Report Parts I and II. A resource list and 

appendices containing important historical documents, graphics, chronology, and 

list of repositories consulted are at the back of the report. 

Figure 0.2 (left): Map showing the 

location of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery in relation to Petersburg 

and components of Petersburg 

National Battlefield. The cemetery 

is stop #11 on the park’s Siege 

Line Tour (blue line). (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 0.3 (right): Recent view 

(2006) looking south along 

Vaughan Road with the entrance 

to Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

at left and a suburban yard at 

right. (SUNY ESF.)
3 

The site history is a narrative of the physical development of the landscape 

and related contexts from pre-history to present, focusing on the time from 

the establishment of the engineers’ camp in 1864 to the present. The chapter is 

divided into four periods, each defined by changes in land use, development, and 

ownership: Pre-Cemetery Period, to 1866; Establishment Period, 1866-1869; War 

Department Period, 1869-1933; and National Park Service Period, 1933-Present. 

The site history is accompanied by historic photographs, diagrams, and period 

plans illustrating change over time and the detailed condition of the landscape at 

the end of each period. The existing conditions chapter provides a narrative and 

graphic overview of the existing (2009) landscape. The chapter also describes 

the regional context, environmental conditions, cemetery setting (immediate 

environs), and park operations pertaining to the landscape. 

The last two chapters provide park managers with detailed documentation on the 

significance of the landscape and its future management, building off the findings 

of the site history and existing conditions chapters. The first part of the analysis 

and evaluation assesses the historic significance of the landscape according to 

the criteria established by the National Register of Historic Places. The second 

Introduction

Figure 0.4: Recent view (2006) 

of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery looking northwest 

across the burial grounds 

toward the center flagstaff. 

(SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

4

part, based on National Park Service cultural landscape methods, evaluates the 

landscape to assess its historic character, specifically changes since the end of 

the historic period. The treatment chapter describes an overall philosophy to 

guide short- and long-term management of the landscape, and prescribes tasks 

necessary to enhance the historic character of the landscape based on the findings 

of the evaluation and park operational needs. 

The project area for this Cultural Landscape Report focuses on the eight-acre 

cemetery landscape delineated by the brick inclosure wall, and secondly on 

the approach road and setting consisting of a parcel owned by the National 

Park Foundation and several other privately-owned tracts proposed for park 

acquisition in the park’s General Management Plan. Within this project area, the 

Cultural Landscape Report addresses the following five primary objectives: 

1. Document the historic design and evolution of the landscape to 

inform management decisions regarding the nature and appropriateness 

of proposed repair and replacement efforts to minimize loss or 

disturbance of significant characteristics, features, and materials.

2. Document the changing historical appearance of characterdefining site features, notably vegetation, circulation, grave markers, 

monuments, perimeter walls, and the drainage system, as well as the 

broader setting. 

3. Provide contextual documentation on the history of American 

cemetery design and in particular on the design of Civil War-era 

national cemeteries.

4. Provide documentation that supports park consultation 

responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 

Act.

5. Recommend treatment strategies for the long-term management of 

the cultural landscape.1

Many of these objectives pertain to planning for the line-item construction 

project, “Restore Facilities, Resources & Character Defining Elements to National 

Cemetery Standards.”2

 Poplar Grove has lacked any significant enhancements in 

nearly fifty years. Today, the park recognizes that the condition of the headstones, 

decline in plant materials, loss of historic furnishings, and contemporary 

alterations detract from the landscape’s historic character and the sacred nature 

of the cemetery. The construction project is intended to comprehensively address 

these deficiencies by enhancing the property’s historic character, addressing 

deterioration of the grave markers, and improving visitor safety, orientation, 

and interpretation. The construction project is compatible with both the park’s 

legislative purpose and its General Management Plan, which calls for the cemetery 
5 

to be brought up to the National Cemetery System standards of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs. 

Overall, research for this Cultural Landscape Report has been undertaken at 

a thorough level of investigation.3

 Historical research focused on holdings in 

the National Archives in Washington, D. C. and College Park, Maryland, and at 

Petersburg National Battlefield. Research was compared to field observations at 

Poplar Grove and at its companion Civil War-era national cemeteries in Virginia, 

including City Point, Cold Harbor, Culpeper, Fort Harrison, Glendale, Richmond, 

Seven Pines, and Yorktown. A history of Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 

prepared by National Park Service Historian Herbert Olsen in 1954, provided the 

basis for the overall history of the site, although it contains limited information 

on the landscape, and in particular on its development after 1880. Research into 

historic contexts, including the Civil War, post-war search and recovery program, 

and the administrative history of the War Department, National Cemetery System, 

and Petersburg National Battlefield, was limited largely to secondary sources. 

Documentation of existing conditions is based upon field inventory, the most 

current site surveys and plans (including the park’s GIS database), and discussions 

with park staff about current issues pertaining to maintenance, administration, 

and interpretation. The analysis and evaluation is based on the findings of the 

site history, the most current draft of the National Register documentation for 

Petersburg National Battlefield, the existing National Register multiple properties 

documentation for Department of Veterans Affairs Civil War-era National 

Cemeteries, and consultation with the History Program of the Northeast Region. 

Finally, the treatment chapter was developed based on the findings of the analysis 

and evaluation, the parameters of the line-item construction project, a treatment 

workshop with National Park Service staff, and a civic engagement held by the 

park to gain public input into the proposed rehabilitation project. 

Summary of Findings

site history overview

Pre-Cemetery Period, To 1866

The site of Poplar Grove National Cemetery, situated south of the Appomattox 

River near the Fall Line dividing Virginia’s plateau and tidewater regions, was part 

of what European explorers called “Apamatica Country.” At the time of European 

contact in the seventeenth century, the region was a border area for several Native 

peoples, including the Eastern Siouan, Southern Iroquois, and the Appomattox. 

European settlement in the region began in the late eighteenth century based on 

Introduction
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

6

the plantation system with Petersburg as the central commercial and industrial 

center. On the eve of the Civil War, the site of the cemetery, covered in secondgrowth loblolly pine forest, was part of a ninety-acre farm owned by the Flower 

family. 

In 1864 during the closing years of the Civil War, the Union Army built an 

extensive line of earthen fortifications as part of its siege on the city of Petersburg. 

In late October 1864 following Union victory at the nearby Battle of Peeble’s 

Farm, the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers, who were responsible for 

construction of the fortifications, established their camp on the Flower farm. 

Here at the future site of the cemetery, the engineers cleared the loblolly woods to 

build an elaborate camp organized around a central parade grounds that included 

rustic wooden officers’ quarters, barracks, and a meeting hall named Poplar Grove 

Church in honor of the church lost in the Battle of Peeble’s Farm. The engineers 

occupied the camp until March 29, 1865. The camp buildings remained on the site 

for at least a year following the end of the Civil War on April 9, 1865. 

Establishment Period, 1866-1869

In May 1866, Lieutenant Colonel James Moore of the Army’s Office of the 

Quartermaster General selected the engineers’ camp on the Flower farm as 

the site for a national cemetery. This cemetery was to be part of a new system 

of national cemeteries that the federal government established to address the 

unprecedented number of fallen soldiers from the Civil War. It was one of eleven 

national cemeteries that the Army established in the Virginia district, along 

with City Point, Cold Harbor, Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Glendale, Hampton, 

Richmond, Staunton, Winchester, and Yorktown National Cemeteries. The 

cemetery was named Poplar Grove after the engineers’ Poplar Grove Church, 

which initially served as the focal point of the cemetery. The plan for the sevenacre cemetery, connected to the public highway (Vaughan Road) by a 1,052-foot 

long approach road through the fields of the Flower farm, consisted of graves in 

concentric circles around a central flagstaff, positioned on axis with Poplar Grove 

Church. By June 1, 1866, the cemetery was officially established as bodies were 

brought to the site from nearby battlefields by a force of upwards of one hundred 

men who were together known as the burial corps. The burial corps removed 

most of the old camp buildings by June 1, 1866, but kept many of the loblolly 

pines in the woods that surrounded the camp. By June 1867, most of the grave 

sites in the cemetery had been filled with total reinterments numbering 5,196. 

For the following three years that it worked at Poplar Grove, the burial corps 

continued to reinter a small number of remains while developing the cemetery 

landscape. This work included building a wood perimeter fence, sodding grave 

mounds, putting up wooden headboards, erecting a central flagstaff on a six-foot 
7 

high mound encircled by four gun monuments, planting red cedar trees, and 

building drives, walks, drains, and a frame lodge for the superintendent. In the 

spring of 1868, the burial corps removed the namesake of the cemetery, Poplar 

Grove Church, which had become deteriorated beyond repair. One acre was 

added to the cemetery at its southwest corner, and on December 15, 1868, the 

government completed its acquisition of the 8.13-acre parcel from the Flower 

family. On June 30, 1869, the burial corps at Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

was officially disbanded, having interred a total of 6,178 Union soldiers and five 

civilians; only thirty-five percent of these remains were positively identified. 

War Department Period, 1869-1933

After the burial corps was disbanded, administration was taken over by the 

U.S. War Department, which continued to develop the cemetery landscape 

through the Office of the Quartermaster General and on-site supervision of a 

cemetery superintendent. The development of the landscape and buildings was 

standardized throughout the national cemetery system and adapted to local 

conditions as necessary. Standard improvements at Poplar Grove included a 

stone Second Empire-style lodge (1871-72) based on a prototype designed by 

Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs, specimen trees and sylvan hall of 

elms (1871), perimeter hedge of Osage orange and boxwood hedge in the shape 

of a Maltese cross (1871), brick inclosure wall with granite and iron gateway 

(1876), marble headstones for known graves and marble blocks for unknown 

graves (1877), settees (c.1878), approach road allee (1878), brick toolshed-stable 

and kitchen buildings (1879), and iron tablets (c.1881). Some changes had been 

made to features built by the burial corps between 1866 and 1869, including 

moving of the frame lodge to the rear of the new lodge in 1872, changing the 

surface of the drives and walks from gravel to turf in c.1872-74, and filling of brick 

gutters in 1877. By 1881, the War Department completed its program of major 

improvements for Poplar Grove. 

For the following four decades, the War Department made few improvements 

to the landscape, with the exception of an iron rostrum added in 1897. Some 

landscape features were changed during this time, including removal of the Osage 

orange hedge in c.1888 and replacement with English ivy, graveling of the main 

drive in c.1900, and installation of an iron flagstaff and removal of the flagstaff 

mound n 1913. In 1915, a tornado swept across the cemetery, resulting in the loss 

of 139 trees. With the establishment of Petersburg National Military Park in 1926, 

the War Department began to plan for a series of improvements at Poplar Grove. 

This program resulted in the building of a Colonial Revival-style public restroom 

building and new garage in 1929; and in 1931, modernization of the lodge with a 

metal roof, planting of 101 trees, paving of the approach road and main drive, and 

installation of a new iron flagstaff. 

Introduction
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

8

National Park Service Period, 1933-Present

On August 10, 1933, administration of Poplar Grove National Cemetery and 

Petersburg National Battlefield was transferred from the Quartermaster Corps 

in the War Department to the National Park Service in the Department of the 

Interior. Administration was initially carried out through the Superintendent 

of Colonial National Monument until December 1935, when the cemetery 

was placed under the newly appointed Superintendent of Petersburg National 

Military Park. From 1933 through c.1942, maintenance and improvement of the 

cemetery was aided by labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). During 

this time, the landscape was radically changed when, in February and March 

1934, the park transformed the upright grave markers into flat markers to facilitate 

mowing and to enhance the appearance of the cemetery. The park received public 

criticism over the change, which did not ease maintenance as anticipated. In 1937, 

CCC crews planted 115 red cedars, mostly as screening along the perimeter of the 

cemetery, and repaired the inclosure wall. 

After World War II, maintenance at the cemetery declined following the park’s 

decision to abolish the position of cemetery superintendent in 1949. Maintenance 

of the cemetery fell to the small staff of Petersburg National Battlefield. Without 

an on-site superintendent and CCC laborers, the condition of the cemetery 

deteriorated, and by the 1950s, the park was again facing public criticism over 

the grave markers, many of which were not visible because they had sunken and 

become covered with grass. In 1957, as part of its MISSION 66 program, the park 

made modest improvements to the cemetery by raising the headstones above 

grade and installing two new signs to either side of the flagstaff that showed the 

burial register and the plan of the cemetery. That same year, the last new burial 

was made and the cemetery was official closed. No additional improvements were 

made to the landscape, which continued to erode through the loss of small-scale 

features and vegetation. In c.1974, the park removed the settees, boxwood Maltese 

cross hedge, and three of the four gun monuments, and cut the height of the 

flagstaff in half. 

By the early 1970s, suburban development had begun to encroach on the setting 

of Poplar Grove. In c.1972, a drive was built from the approach road along the 

northern boundary of the cemetery to two houses constructed within seventyfive feet of the east wall. Four years later, the park began to plan for a program 

of improvements to the buildings and landscape, including the acquisition of 

eighteen surrounding acres to protect the setting of the cemetery and place 

the approach road in federal ownership. Apparently due to lack of funds, these 

plans were not implemented, although the property acquisition was eventually 

advanced. In 1987, a plan for acquiring a smaller amount of land—3.7 wooded 

acres to the west of the cemetery along with a section of the approach road—was 
9 

proposed by the park. The National Park Foundation, a not-for-profit advocacy 

group, acquired this land in 1991 with the intent of transferring ownership to 

the National Park Service. Although this transfer did not occur as planned, the 

park went ahead with construction of a visitor parking lot on the parcel in c.1995, 

adjoining the cemetery entrance gates. In recent years, the park has maintained 

the landscape, but without an infusion of resources, the grave markers, vegetation, 

and visitor facilities have continued to deteriorate. 

Existing conditions

The eight acres of Poplar Grove National Cemetery under National Park Service 

ownership consist of the landscape within the brick inclosure wall and a narrow 

strip outside of it. Within the walls are the burial grounds, lodge grounds, and 

service area. The burial grounds consist of nineteen unmarked blocks (an 

organization adopted in c.1957 from the original divisions and sections) arranged 

in concentric circles except for five blocks along the perimeter that have an 

orthogonal pattern. Orientation is provided through a faded grave locator map 

and interpretive panel installed in c.1957 near the central flagstaff. All grave 

markers lie flush with the ground or are raised slightly above grade. Most are 

in poor condition, characterized by eroded stone, chipped edges, and stained 

surfaces. There are three general types: white marble upright headstones that 

were installed between 1877 and 1934, and cut off at ground level and transformed 

into flat markers in 1934; square white marble posts marking unknown graves that 

were installed in 1877 at a height of six inches and sunk flush with the ground in 

1934; and flat markers installed after 1934. At the center of the burial grounds, 

accessed by a curving entrance drive, is a forty-foot tall flagstaff installed in 1931 

that was originally twice as tall and is largely concealed from view by surrounding 

trees. A gun monument, one of four upright cannons that lined the central circular 

drive, is to the north of the flagstaff. 

Adjoining the entrance gates at the southwest corner of the cemetery are the lodge 

grounds and service area. The lodge grounds contain the 1872 lodge, which is 

largely unused except as a station for the attending park ranger. To the rear of the 

lodge is the 1929 restroom building, which remains in use but is not universally 

accessible. The open grounds of the assembly area to the east, with the 1897 

rostrum, is used for Memorial Day ceremonies and other special gatherings. 

Across the main drive from the lodge grounds is the service area, with the 1929 

garage that remains in use as the maintenance facility and maintenance office for 

the cemetery.

The 1,025-foot long approach road to the cemetery from Vaughan Road crosses 

private property along a federal right-of-way. The road is bordered mostly by 

second-growth volunteer trees and open agricultural fields of the R. Taylor farm. 

Introduction
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

10

Near the cemetery, the dense loblolly pine woods block views of the cemetery 

from the approach. These woods are on a 3.7-acre parcel (Odom Tract) owned 

by the National Park Foundation that also includes the eastern 325 feet of the 

approach road, the cemetery parking lot, and the Odom cemetery, a small plot 

established in 1971 and containing two headstones and four graves. To the north 

and east of the cemetery inclosure wall, the landscape is characterized by woods 

that were developed in c.1972 with two residences and an access drive. The land 

to the south of the cemetery consists of woods and a field. 

Analysis and evaluation

Poplar Grove is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, but is 

inadequately documented. Based on the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 

this report recommends that Poplar Grove National Cemetery landscape be 

documented for its significance under Criterion A in the area of military history 

and Criterion C in the area of landscape architecture. In the area of military 

history, Poplar Grove is significant for its intimate association with the Civil War 

and as a component of the National Cemetery System. In the area of landscape 

architecture, Poplar Grove is significant for illustrating the initial development 

of the National Cemetery System through the early 1880s and its subsequent 

development through the 1930s under War Department administration. 

Under Criterion A, the cemetery has an overall period of significance dating from 

its founding in 1866 through the last burial in 2003; this period may be extended if 

reinterment of Civil War remains occurs in the future. The period of significance 

for the landscape extends from 1866 through the end of the War Department 

period in 1933. The changes made to the landscape by the National Park Service 

after 1933, including alteration of the grave markers, do not have significance. The 

post-1933 graves are significant under National Register Criterion A.

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is composed of ten landscape characteristics: 

natural systems and features, spatial organization, land use, circulation, 

topography, vegetation, buildings and structures, views and vistas, small-scale 

features, and archeological features. While many of these historic characteristics 

remain, there have been substantial changes since 1933. Historic character has 

been lost in the landscape’s spatial organization through growth of woods on 

fields in the cemetery’s setting; in vegetation through the loss of the approach 

road allee, Maltese cross hedge, specimen trees, and shrubs; in views and vistas 

through growth of woods and specimen trees that block views upon approach to 

the cemetery and of the central flagstaff from within the burial grounds; and most 

notably, in small-scale features through removal of iron tablets, gun monuments, 

and upright grave markers. 
11 

treatment

The recommended treatment philosophy for Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

is to rehabilitate the landscape to its character at the end of the War Department 

administration in 1933, prior to its transfer to the National Park Service and 

subsequent removal of the upright grave markers. Treatment to this date 

incorporates the development of the cemetery landscape from its founding in 

1866 over the course of nearly seven decades of military administration when the 

majority of burials took place. This treatment philosophy focuses on managing 

the landscape for its historic character by preserving defining features, returning 

key features that have been lost since 1933, and allowing for change inherent in 

vegetation and necessary for contemporary uses, provided they are compatible 

with the historic character of the landscape. The philosophy also includes 

preservation and enhancement of the cemetery’s rural setting, including its treelined approach road, views, and adjoining fields and woods. This philosophy is 

based on National Park Service management policies and regulations for national 

cemeteries that refer to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery 

Administration standards, as well as on park planning and historic national 

cemetery standards issued by the War Department. 

Key treatment tasks for the rehabilitation of the cemetery landscape include 

installation of new grave markers that, with a few exceptions, replicate the existing 

altered and deteriorated stones, and removal of the existing grave markers; 

planting of trees and shrubs; replacement of the central flagstaff to return it to its 

historic height above the tree canopy; resurfacing the main drive; reinstallation 

of the iron tablets presently in storage; rehabilitation of the lodge, garage, and 

restroom building to enhance their historic character and contemporary function, 

and installation of a new grave locator system, including section markers and a 

wayside near the cemetery entrance. Outside of the cemetery walls, key treatment 

tasks include reestablishment of the approach road allee; installation of new 

signage; relocation of the visitor parking lot to a less conspicuous location; and 

removal of the non-historic woods west of the cemetery to reestablish the open 

field and views of the cemetery from the approach road. Treatment also includes 

preservation of the existing agricultural fields and woods along the approach road 

and adjoining the cemetery, and screening of incompatible modern development. 

Most of these tasks for the setting are contingent upon the park gaining interest in 

the privately owned land. 

Introduction
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

12

Endnotes

1 Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Project Agreement, Poplar Grove National Cemetery Cultural Landscape 

Report, 3 June 2005.

2 “Restore Facilities, Resources & Character Defining Elements to National Cemetery Standards—POGR,” PMIS 89424, 8 

April 2002 updated to 25 January 2005, Petersburg National Battlefield.

3 As defined in the National Park Service Cultural Resource Management Guideline (DO-28, 1998), “thorough” means 

research in selected published and documentary sources of known or presumed relevance that are readily accessible 

without extensive travel and that promise expeditious extraction of relevant data; interviewing all knowledgeable persons 

who are readily available, non-destructive investigation, and presenting findings in no greater detail than required by the 

task directive. National Park Service, Cultural Resource Management Guideline, NPS-28, web edition, 11 June 1998, http://

www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books /nps28/28contents.htm, 17-19.
13 

Site History, Pre-1866

Pre-Cemetery period, to 1866

In the centuries before its establishment as a national cemetery in 1866, the site 

of Poplar Grove was an indistinguishable part of the forests of the Virginia Fall 

Line and a homeland of Native Americans before becoming a remote corner of 

a Dinwiddie County plantation in the eighteenth century. Only during the Civil 

War did the site earn a distinctive use and character—as the camp of the 50th New 

York Volunteer Engineers. Although the natural topography was influential in 

determining regional land-use patterns, it is due to the engineers’ camp that the 

cemetery owes its location and name. 

Native Setting

The site of Poplar Grove National Cemetery is located along a geologic and 

physiographic divide that separates Appalachian highlands of igneous rock to 

the west known as the Piedmont Plateau, and sedimentary lowlands to the east 

known as the Coastal Plain or in its regional idiom, the Tidewater. This divide, 

traditionally called the Fall Line, extends from New Jersey south to the Carolinas 

parallel to the Atlantic coast. The Fall Line marks the edge of the Piedmont’s 

east-facing escarpment (cliff), once an ancient ocean shore. The Coastal Plain 

was formed from sediments that washed down into the ocean over millions of 

years, eventually building up a sedimentary plain that buried the escarpment 

and extended far into the sea. The name Fall Line comes from the waterfalls and 

rapids that washed away the sedimentary plain and flow over the rocky Piedmont 

escarpment. The Fall Line—actually a zone several miles in width rather than a 

sharp dividing line—marks the westernmost 

extent of tidal waters. 1

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is just east 

of the Fall Line within the western extreme of 

the Coastal Plain (fig. 1.1). The Fall Line in the 

region generally corresponds with elevations 

between 170 and 250 feet, with lower areas 

part of the Coastal Plain and higher areas as 

part of the Piedmont Plateau. 2 Near Poplar 

Grove, the geology of the Fall Line is most 

visible in the landscape west of Petersburg 

along the Appomattox River, a major 

tributary of the James River that flows into 

the Chesapeake Bay. Here, the Appomattox 

Figure 1.1: Physiographic regions 

illustrating general area of the Fall 

Line (Fall Zone) in relation to Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery and 

current county boundaries. (SUNY 

ESF.)

SITE HISTORY
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

14

(whose name is believed to be of Indian derivation meaning meandering 

river) cuts through a ravine in the Piedmont escarpment, with waterfalls and 

rapids extending along a five-mile stretch west from the city.3

 Poplar Grove is 

approximately five miles south of these rapids in a region where there is little 

outward sign of the Fall Line because the Piedmont escarpment is buried beneath 

Coastal Plain sediments. The topography here overall slopes toward the east, with 

local changes in elevation typically amounting to less than fifty feet. Poplar Grove 

lies above a small ravine in the headwaters of the Arthur Swamp near a watershed 

divide. The streams to the north of the cemetery drain to the Appomattox River 

and the Chesapeake Bay, while those adjoining and to the south of the cemetery 

drain to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. The siege line built by the Union 

Army along present-day Flank Road approximately one half mile north of the 

cemetery generally marks the line of this watershed divide. 4

Due to extensive clearing by European settlers, little is known about the native 

plant species and communities that once existed in and around Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery. The soils, generally composed of deep loamy and clayey 

river and marine deposits, would have supported a temperate forest ecosystem.5

The area was most likely dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and mixed 

hardwoods such as American beech (Fagus grandifolia), several species of oak 

(Quercus sp.), and American holly (Ilex opaca). Tulip poplar (Liriodendron 

tulipifera)—probably the species that is the indirect namesake for the cemetery—

were part of the native flora in the Petersburg area, especially along bottomlands 

where it is a common early successional tree. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)—a tree 

common today in the woods surrounding Poplar Grove—was generally a minor 

species, often found in mixed hardwood forests and along stream and swamp 

margins. 6 When European farmers began to clear the native forests beginning 

in the late seventeenth century, loblolly pine often became the dominant species 

due to its ability to regenerate readily in disturbed areas. This nature led to its 

nickname, “old-field pine.”78

Human habitation in the region surrounding Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 

referred to as the “Apamatica Country” by European explorers and traders 

after the people who lived in the region at the time of contact in the seventeenth 

century, dates back more than 10,000 years. At the time of European contact, the 

region was a border area for several Native peoples, with a primary trading path 

running along the Fall Line. The cemetery site was probably at the western edge of 

the homeland of the Appomattox (or Appamatuck) people, neighboring Eastern 

Siouan Indians (a branch of the Western Sioux) to the west and Southern Iroquois 

to the south. The Appomattox built bark-covered houses in villages enclosed by 

palisades, and in surrounding fields farmed corn, beans, melons, pumpkins, root 

vegetables, and fruit trees. 9 It is not known whether the Appomattox or any other 
15 

Site History, Pre-1866

earlier Native peoples had any specific use or association with the cemetery, which 

was most likely part of larger forested hunting grounds. 

European settlement

Soon after European settlers established Jamestown in 1607, they began to explore 

the headwaters of the James River, which were navigable up to the Fall Line. They 

arrived in Apamatica Country in 1608, but it was several decades before settlement 

reached that far west. In 1639, the British granted the first colonial patent at the 

falls of the Appomattox River within the present city of Petersburg. Six years 

later in anticipation of further settlement, the colony authorized Fort Henry to 

be constructed there as part of a series of forts along the Fall Line to defend the 

western edge of settlement. In 1644, the Powhatan Confederation, a federation of 

more than thirty Algonquian tribes, signed a treaty agreeing that all land east of 

the Fall Line belonged to the English, and all land to the west was Indian territory. 

South of the Appomattox River, the so-called Indian Line was poorly defined, 

leading to colonial settlement well to its west. By the end of the seventeenth 

century, the Appomattox and most of the Powhatan tribes in the region had been 

decimated by European diseases, war, and cultural pressures. The Indian Line 

gave way in 1690.10

By 1702, settlement had advanced sufficiently to warrant creation of Prince 

George County that took in Petersburg and miles of country to the east and 

west across the former Indian Line (fig. 1.2). Between 1715 and 1730, most of 

the county was granted to European settlers through patents. By mid-century, 

Figure 1.2: Detail, “Map of the 

Most Inhabited Part of Virginia 

(Fry & Jefferson, 1751), showing 

main settlements, waterways, 

and roads. Note lack of roads 

and settlements in area south of 

Petersburg. (Library of Congress, 

American Memory Collection, 

digital image g3880 ct000370, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

16

there were few towns in the county and all were clustered along the Appomattox 

River. The interior of the county was, however, being transformed from mostly 

forest into large farms known as plantations. Settlement had become sufficiently 

advanced by 1752 to warrant division of the western part of Saint George, 

including the site of Poplar Grove, as Dinwiddie County, named after Robert 

Dinwiddie who had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Virginia the year 

before. 11

Petersburg, located at the northeastern corner of Dinwiddie County, developed 

as the primary trade and market center for the surrounding agricultural region. 

The city was laid out in 1748, and by 1791 its population had reached nearly 

3,000. Much of Petersburg’s early growth was due to the tobacco trade and its 

position at the head of navigable waters on the Appomattox River. Throughout 

this period, surrounding Dinwiddie County remained predominantly rural and 

sparsely populated, with a population of 5,257 including slaves by 1830. Roads, 

usually little more than dirt tracks, were far between and generally extended 

perpendicular to streams and oriented in a radial pattern toward Petersburg.12

As was typical of most of Tidewater Virginia, the county was dominated by 

plantation agriculture dependent on tobacco with wheat and corn as secondary 

crops. By the early nineteenth century, years of tobacco growing was resulting 

in decreased productivity due to soil depletion, with second-growth loblolly 

pine woods on abandoned fields a familiar site throughout the rural landscape. 

Combined with competition from fertile Midwestern farms, the decline in 

productivity led to a drop in the value of the county’s farms, which fell by more 

than half between 1820 and 1850.13 These depressed conditions were evident in 

a description of the county written by the widely published journalist Benson J. 

Lossing during his visit in 1848:

...the country is broken, and patches of sandy soil with pine forests, 

alternated with red clay, bearing oaks, chestnuts, and gum-trees. Worse 

roads I never expect to travel, for they would be impassable...The country 

is sparsely populated, and the plantations generally bore evidences of 

unskilled culture. Although most of the soil is fertile, and might be made 

very productive, yet so wretchedly is it frequently managed that twenty 

bushels of wheat is considered a good yield for an acre...Tobacco is the 

staple product, yielding from five hundred to one thousand pounds per 

acre; but in the absence of manure, it destroys the vitality of the soil.14

Despite Lossing’s dismal account, improved transportation and agricultural 

practices were leading to increasing farm prosperity at the time. By 1860, land 

values had almost doubled and improved farm acreage had increased over the 
17 

Site History, Pre-1866

previous decade.15 The antebellum 

years were also prosperous ones for 

Petersburg, which was incorporated 

as a city in 1850 and by the eve of the 

Civil War was ranked only behind 

Richmond among Virginia cities in its 

size, industry, and cultural life. 16 Much 

of its growth and importance became 

increasingly tied to its position as a 

transportation crossroads and nexus 

for the region’s railroads. In 1833, the 

Petersburg Railroad (later renamed 

the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad) 

was completed to North Carolina, 

reinforcing Petersburg’s importance as 

an agricultural market and industrial 

center, and soon additional rail 

links were built to Richmond, Norfolk, and City Point at the confluence of the 

Appomattox and James Rivers. 17 On the eve of the Civil War, five railroads and six 

major roads converged on Petersburg from all directions (fig. 1.3).18

The Flower Farm

As was typical of cities throughout the nation prior to the Civil War, Petersburg 

was a compact urban area along the banks of the Appomattox River. It quickly 

transitioned to a rural district that by the 1850s included smaller farms that had 

been subdivided from larger plantations. The site of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery was within one of these smaller farms, approximately five miles 

southwest of Petersburg and east of Halifax Road, the primary road leading 

south from the city (fig. 1.4). On this road about a half mile east of the cemetery 

site was the Globe Tavern, one of the few commercial establishments outside of 

Petersburg. Southwest of the cemetery site along a crossroad was a small chapel 

named Poplar Spring Church. 

The farm that included the cemetery site was located along Vaughan Road, 

a minor road running southwest from Halifax Road. Because of a fire at the 

Dinwiddie County Courthouse that destroyed all land records prior to c.1835, 

little is known about the earliest ownership of the land. It was apparently part of 

a large plantation known as the Clifford Tract that extended from the vicinity of 

Arthurs Swamp and Duncan Road (present Route 670) on the west to beyond 

Vaughan Road on the east. The plantation belonged to Jordon and Francis Floyd, 

who lived in a two-story frame dwelling later known as Cottage Place at the west 

Figure 1.3: An 1854 map of 

Virginia showing Petersburg as a 

transportation nexus. (Detail, G. 

W. Colton, Virginia, Published by 

J. H. Colton & Company, 1856.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

18

end of the plantation. Jordon Floyd was 

later a bonded tobacco inspector for Oaks 

warehouse in Petersburg.19

In 1838, the Floyds—then residents of 

Petersburg—sold a 450-acre tract along 

Vaughan Road at the eastern end of their 

plantation including the future cemetery 

site, to Benjamin H. and Frances Coupland 

for $2,612.33. 20 The Couplands probably 

built a farmhouse along the west side of 

Vaughan Road. Five years later in 1843, they 

sold the farm to Isaac Roney, of Dinwiddie 

County, for $1,200.21 In 1844, Roney sold the 

farm to Joseph A. Sydnor, of Petersburg, for 

$2,000. Over their eight years of ownership, 

Sydnor and his wife Mary apparently rented 

out the farm, since they remained residents 

of Petersburg. On December 2, 1852, the 

Sydnors sold the farm to Juliana Dorsey 

for $3,000, who in turn sold the farm a year 

and a half later on March 21, 1855, to John 

Flower, of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 

for $6,750.22 In order to pay for the property, John Flower used a $5,000 bond 

that was issued by Reverend Thomas B. Flower, probably John’s father or brother. 

John Flower was apparently unable to pay off the bond, and so he and his wife, 

Mary Ann, sold the farm to Reverend Flower on April 25, 1856, but the couple 

remained occupants of the land through the Civil War. 23 It is not known why 

the Flowers moved to Virginia. The agricultural economy in Dinwiddie County 

was improving by the 1850s, and perhaps they saw an opportunity there that 

they may not have had in Pennsylvania. They would have lived in the farmhouse 

that Benjamin and Francis Coupland may have built, located on the west side of 

Vaughan Road across from the present cemetery approach road. 24

Into the early years of the Civil War, the site of the cemetery within the Flower 

farm was a four- or five-acre field surrounded on three sides by woods of loblolly 

pine, second-growth trees that had seeded in over the past two or three decades 

on former agricultural land.25 The field, which adjoined another field to the south 

on land owned by the Farley family, occupied a plateau that bordered shallow 

ravines to the north and west formed by headwaters of the Arthur Swamp. The 

pine woods separated the field from other fields to the west along Vaughan Road, 

and more pine woods extended west to Halifax Road. The nearby marshy ravine 

Figure 1.4: Map of area south 

of Petersburg near the future 

site of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery prior to the Civil 

War. (Detail, “Correct Map of 

Dinwiddie County by Ishmae. 

Hargraves,” c.1850, National 

Archives II, Cartographic 

Division, annotated by SUNY 

ESF.)
19 

SITE HISTORY, PRE-1866

fl oors were probably covered in mixed bottomland hardwood trees, such as maple 

and poplar.26

THE CIVIL WAR

The transformation of a corner of the Flower farm to a military camp and 

ultimately the resting place for thousands of fallen soldiers resulted from the 

strategic place that Petersburg held in the latter years of the Civil War. The area 

around the city was the site of the terrible ten-month Petersburg Campaign that 

began in June 1864 and continued into April 1865—one of the longest sieges 

in American warfare. In the spring of 1864 following failed attempts at taking 

Richmond directly, General Grant changed to a strategy of indirectly taking 

the Confederate capitol by cutting off its supply routes, the most important of 

which came through Petersburg with its nexus of road and rail lines. After an 

initial four-day battle failed to take Petersburg, General Grant turned to siege 

operations of encirclement and attrition. With headquarters and major supply 

center at City Point east of Petersburg, the Union Army built an extensive line 

of siege fortifi cations from June 19, 1864 through the winter of 1865, extending 

in an arc around the city for more than ten miles through Prince George and 

Dinwiddie Counties (fi g. 1.5). Confronted in the spring with near encirclement, 

the Confederate Army fl ed Petersburg on the night of April 2, 1865, and retreated 

Figure 1.5: Map of the Entrenched 

Lines in the Petersburg Campaign 

redrawn from a survey by Brevet 

Colonel N. Michler, 1864-65 

(Petersburg: T. S. Beckwith & Co., 

c.1890). The map does not show 

the location of military camps or 

all farms. (Copyright The Library of 

Virginia, annotated by SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

20

west along the Appomattox River. One week later, on April 9, 1865, the Civil War 

ended when General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.27 

Aside from the loss of life, the only aspect of the Petersburg 

Campaign that directly influenced the development of 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery was the construction 

of the western part of the Union siege-line fortifications 

known as the Federal Left Flank. In the summer of 1864, 

following initial construction of the fortifications to the 

right or east of Petersburg, the Union Army began to 

push construction south and west through Confederateheld territory. On August 18-21, 1864, they captured the 

Petersburg & Weldon Railroad along Halifax Road near 

the Globe Tavern in the Battle of the Weldon Railroad (see 

fig. 1.5). This victory allowed the Union Army to extend 

its fortifications west of Halifax Road. They fortified the 

location by building Fort Wadsworth, and began laying 

down a military railroad from Pitkin Station on the eastern 

front at present-day Fort Lee, to the Weldon Railroad, 

in order to speed supplies for the extension of siege lines 

farther west.28

On September 29, 1864, the Union Army gained control of 

territory two miles to the west of the Globe Tavern in the 

Battle of Peebles Farm, near Poplar Spring Church (fig. 1.6). 

By October 2, they had extended the siege lines to Peebles 

Farm following high ground formed by the watershed 

divide and soon extended the military supply railroad, 

requiring clearing through dense pine forest (fig. 1.7). The 

railroad brought troops and supplies to extend the siege 

fortifications still further west. Peebles Farm became the 

main Union camp, centered at Fort Wheaton. Near here, 

a signal tower was erected to facilitate communications in 

the ongoing construction of the encircling siege line (see 

fig. 1.5). Unimpeded by major battles, the Union Army 

Figure 1.6 (top): Engraving of the Poplar Spring Church (Meeting House) in the aftermath of the Battle of Peebles Farm on September 

30th, 1864. (Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 22 October 1864.)

Figure 1.7 (middle): Engraving of Union troops cutting the military railroad through dense forests south of Petersburg, probably in the 

Left Flank. (Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1 October 1864.)

Figure 1.8 (bottom): “Earthworks in front of Petersburg, Virginia,” 1865, illustrating typical timber and earthen fortification and ravaged 

pine forest in background (location unknown). (Library of Congress, American Memory Collection, digital image LC-DIG-cwpb-01326.)
21 

Site History, Pre-1866

completed these fortifications, today known as the Fish 

Hook Siegeworks, during the winter of 1864-1865, along 

with a parallel secondary line to the south that created a 

protected Union zone of occupation. 29

The war and in particular the construction of the siege lines 

had a devastating impact on a broad swath of landscape. 

Fields were destroyed, forests slashed, and extensive areas 

were excavated for the construction of a wide variety of 

military structures built of earth and timber (fig. 1.8). The 

soft, deep soils proved easily workable and helped speed 

construction of the fortifications. Camps for the troops were 

set up within the occupied zones, with canvas tents as well as more permanent 

structures built of logs harvested from the extensive slashing operations (fig. 1.9). 

The Engineers’ Camp

Building the Federal Left Flank—the fortifications extending west from the 

Weldon Railroad—was the charge of the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers. 

Originally organized in Elmira, New York, in 1861 as an infantry unit drawing 

recruits primarily from central and western parts of upstate New York and 

northern Pennsylvania, the unit was soon reorganized as an engineer battalion 

under the Army of the Potomac Engineers.30 In late October 1864, two months 

after the Battle of Weldon Railroad, Engineers Company L and Company M, 

later followed by another four 

companies, relocated their camp 

to the Flower farm due west 

of the Globe Tavern between 

Vaughan Road and Halifax Road 

(fig. 1.10).31 This location was 

roughly a mile and a half east 

of the main Union camp at Fort 

Wheaton. It is not known why 

the engineers selected this site in 

particular, although its position 

within the protected zone 

Figure 1.9: Camp of Oneida, 

New York Independent Cavalry 

Company in Petersburg showing 

quarters constructed of logs, 

with stumps from slashed pine 

forest in foreground, March 1865. 

(Library of Congress American 

Memory Collection, digital image 

LC-DIG-cwpb 03713.)

Figure 1.10: Map of the Federal Left 

Flank in the vicinity of the camp of the 

50th New York Volunteer Engineers, 

based on Michler 1864-1865 survey. 

The Flower farmhouse was shown in 

a different location on other Civil War 

maps. (SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

22

between the Union front and rear lines and proximity to the military railroad and 

winter quarters of the Sixth Corps may have been influential. 32 Another factor 

may have been the site’s relatively level and enclosed character set back from 

the public road.Perhaps the Flower family—sympathetic Northerners from the 

Philadelphia area—offered the site to the engineers.33 The engineers developed 

their camp through March 29, 1865, when they left to take part in the final 

offensive against the Confederate defense of Petersburg, four days before General 

Lee fled the city.34 

Under the command of Brigadier General Ira Spaulding, the engineers built their 

camp in a rectilinear plan with the main officers’ quarters and hospital on the west, 

officers’ quarters and barracks on the east, and parade grounds in the middle with 

its center near the existing cemetery flagstaff (fig. 1.11). Buildings were connected 

by plank walks, and the camp was enclosed by a rail fence; there may also have 

been an orchard.35 The main road to the camp was probably from the north in the 

direction of the military railroad. The road cut across small ravines and wetlands, 

requiring the construction of earthen causeways.36 A second road probably 

entered from the southwest from Vaughan Road. The engineers initially erected 

elaborate tents that they replaced with timber buildings, including a church and 

additional barracks added in the last months of the camp. Overall length of the 

camp proper from east to west was less than 500 feet—an area smaller than later 

Figure 1.11: Perspective drawing of the engineers’ camp looking southwest toward Vaughan Road, circa January 1865. The camp at the time 

was under improvement and additional buildings would be added through the next few months. (Copyright Virginia Historical Society, 

image 1999.161.535, annotated by SUNY ESF.)
23 

Site History, Pre-1866

enclosed by the cemetery walls. The buildings were constructed out of unmilled 

timber from the surrounding pine woods. The engineers had developed a flair for 

working with raw timber, probably gained in part from their wartime experience 

of building wooden bridges, boats, fortifications, and camp buildings. They 

ornamented many of the buildings in a rustic style then fashionable in public parks 

and pleasure grounds of country estates in the engineers’ Northern home states.37

The main officers’ quarters were the most elaborately designed in the camp 

aside from the church. In its initial development in the fall of 1864, the area was 

comprised of four small officer tents and a headquarters tent that defined a 

small courtyard. Each tent was approximately six feet wide by twelve feet deep 

with facades made of a timber frame or lattice, on which evergreen boughs were 

twined and clipped, as in topiary (fig. 1.12). The headquarters tent was the most 

decorative, featuring a double Gothic-arched entrance complete with pilasters and 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers insignia executed in relief of clipped evergreens 

(fig. 1.13). The courtyard was delineated by an evergreen hedge, which was 

apparently made of cut young pine trees or boughs staked in the ground. To the 

north was the surgeon’s office, along with hospital and ambulance corps buildings.

During the lull in construction of the siege fortifications in the late fall and winter 

of 1864-1865, the engineers replaced their tents—the evergreen facades had 

probably turned brown within a few weeks—with elaborate timber buildings. The 

drawing of the camp made in January 1865 (see fig. 1.11) shows the Colonel’s 

Quarters in place of the headquarters tent, and a new Surgeon’s Quarters to the 

north. Over the next few months, another three matching buildings were built 

around the courtyard. Measuring approximately twelve feet wide by fifteen feet 

long, each building was sheathed in half logs with a classical façade of pilasters 

and pediments executed in twigs (figs. 1.14, 1.15). Lattice fences and archways 

spanned the buildings to enclose the courtyard. The Colonel’s Quarters building 

Figure 1.12 (left): Looking 

northwest into the officers’ 

quarters courtyard of the 

engineers’ camp showing initial 

tent structures, circa October 

1864. The headquarters tent is 

the one in the middle with the 

paired arched entrance. (Library 

of Congress, American Memory 

Collection, digital image LC-DIGcwpb-00513.)

Figure 1.13 (right): Looking 

southwest at the headquarters 

tent, photograph by Timothy 

O’Sullivan, November 1864. 

(Library of Congress American 

Memory Collection, digital image 

LC-DIG-cwp-4a39989.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

24

with its projecting central wing with an arched entrance was the centerpiece of 

the courtyard (fig. 1.16). To the north of the officers’ quarters were the ambulance 

corps and hospital buildings within a hedge-enclosed yard, with a rustic entrance 

arch and flagstaff at the entry road.38

Purportedly to keep the men occupied during the winter months, General 

Spaulding gave the authorization on January 20, 1865 to begin construction of 

an elaborate central meeting hall on the north side of the parade grounds (fig. 

1.17).39 The engineers named the building Poplar Grove Church in honor of the 

congregation of nearby Poplar Spring Chapel, which was occupied by the Union 

Army since its victory at the Battle of Peebles Farm (“Grove” was substituted for 

“Spring” probably to distinguish the new building from the old). Construction 

was completed within two months, and on March 4, 1865, the Reverend Mr. 

Duryea of New York dedicated the building. It served both recreational and 

Figure 1.14 (left): The rebuilt 

officers’ quarters courtyard, 

view looking northwest 

from parade grounds, circa 

December 1864. (Library of 

Congress American Memory 

Collection, digital image LC-DIGcwp-02846.) 

Figure 1.15 (top right): The 

Surgeon’s Quarters in the 

officers’ quarters courtyard 

showing rustic details, fencing, 

and corduroy walks, view 

looking northeast, March 1865. 

(Library of Congress American 

Memory Collection, digital 

image LC-DIG-cwpb 03905.)

Figure 1.16 (lower right): The 

officers’ quarters courtyard, 

view looking west showing 

corduroy walk extending 

through the parade grounds 

on axis with the Colonel’s 

Quarters, March 1865. (Library 

of Congress American Memory 

Collection, digital image LC-DIGcwpb 03906.)
25 

Site History, Pre-1866

religious purposes, hosting Sunday services as well as minstrel shows and concerts 

attended by visiting dignitaries that included Mrs. General Grant and Mrs. 

General Meade. The church was also used as a hospital in the final days of the 

Petersburg Campaign.40

The Gothic, rustic-style church was designed by Brevet Major Michael H. 

McGrath, an architect-builder from Painted Post, New York who commanded the 

engineers’ Company F.41 McGrath designed the building 

in the plan of a modified cross, with a seating capacity for 

approximately 225 people. The entire structure was built of 

timber and featured a central tower with a spire that reached 

nearly sixty feet in height, shingled gable roofs with ridge 

ventilators, timber end chimneys, and vertical half-log walls 

(fig. 1.18). The main entrance, a Gothic-arched opening 

with recessed plank doors, was in the base of the tower, and 

four floor-length windows lined the façade, each with twiglattice for muntins and cloth for glass. The tower featured 

two square base stages that tapered to an octagonal lantern 

with diamond-shaped twig-work. From here rose a spire 

topped by a mast. At the front of the tower was the Corps of 

Engineers insignia executed in twigs. The interior featured a 

Figure 1.17: Poplar Grove Church looking north across the parade grounds, March 1865. At right is a log fence, corduroy walk, and pine 

hedge along the barracks area. (Library of Congress American Memory Collection, digital image LC-DIG-cwpb-04329.)

Figure 1.18: Poplar Grove Church 

nearing completion, looking 

northeast from the officers’ 

quarters, circa February 1864. Note 

loblolly pines in the background, 

corduroy walk to the left, and 

other buildings at right. (Library 

of Congress American Memory 

Collection, digital image LC-DIGcwpb 00990.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

26

rostrum, clay fireplaces at either end, rustic twig chandeliers, and three-leg stools 

on half-log floors. 42 An inscription over the rostrum dedicated the building to the 

members of Poplar Spring Church.43

The eastern side of the camp was occupied by additional officers’ quarters and 

rows of barracks, with cookhouses, a well, and washhouses to the east, and a 

storage area for pontoon boards to the south (see fig. 1.11). Due east of the church 

was the officers’ quarters for Company L, a log building with a pedimented 

entrance facing east on axis with Company L Street, which was lined by log 

barracks (fig. 1.19). South of it was the officers’ quarters for Company M, a similar, 

but smaller building than Company L’s. The northern 

two rows of barracks belonging to Company L each 

consisted of seven connected log cabins with gable 

roofs. To the south were two additional rows of 

barracks of long, gabled buildings rather than small 

cabins. These barracks were enclosed by a log rail 

fence and evergreen hedges, and were connected by 

plank walks (see fig. 1.17).44 A drawing of the camp 

made after March 1865 shows many additional rows 

of barracks extending to the south of the Company 

L and M barracks, probably for the other four 

Figure 1.19: Unattributed 

sketch looking west through 

the log barracks of Company 

L toward Company L Officers’ 

Quarters with Poplar Grove 

Church in the background, 

circa March 1865. (Courtesy of 

the Stettner family, Petersburg 

National Battlefield archives.)

Figure 1.20: The engineers’ camp in a drawing by C. E. Hastings looking southeast, c.1865. Poplar Grove Church is in middle foreground; 

the officers’ quarters courtyard on the right, and lines of barracks to the left. Visible at the lower right is the hedge-enclosed entrance yard 

and flagstaff at one of the two north entrances to the camp. This drawing is an exaggerated perspective and may show more barracks than 

actually existed. (Courtesy of the Stettner family, Petersburg National Battlefield archives.) 
27 

Site History, Pre-1866

companies that occupied the camp (fig. 1.20). The drawing also shows the flagstaff 

and hedge-enclosed courtyard at the hospital entrance west of the church, the 

officers’ quarters courtyard, enclosing fence, and pine woods, among other 

features. .

Aftermath

On the morning of April 3, 1865, Union troops entered Petersburg in the wake 

of General Lee’s retreat toward Appomattox the previous night. By 10:00 a.m., 

President Lincoln arrived on the battlefield via the military railroad, touring the 

ravaged Union siege lines south of the city, but not visiting the engineers’ camp.45

With the end of the campaign, Petersburg entered a long period of occupation by 

the Union Army. 

The combination of fortification construction and battle scars devastated the 

landscape around Petersburg. For many months following Lee’s retreat, the Union 

siege-line fortifications lay abandoned. Local residents, strapped for building 

materials and income, scoured the battlefield, retrieving lead from bullets, 

timber from the fortifications, and iron from the military railroad. Some began 

to return the battlefields to agriculture. The feeling of death—marked not just 

by the physical destruction but also by bodies left scattered on the battlefields—

permeated the landscape.46 

For at least five months after General Lee’s surrender in April 1865, the engineers’ 

camp remained intact. In late September 1865, John Trowbridge, a Northerner, 

wrote the following description of the camp for his book, The Desolate South: 

Passing the winter quarters of the Sixth Corps, we approached one 

of the most beautiful villages ever seen. It was sheltered by a grove of 

murmuring pines. An arched gateway admitted us to its silent streets. It 

was constructed entirely of pine saplings and logs. Even the neat sidewalks 

were composed of the same material. The huts—if those little dwellings, 

built in a unique and perfect style of architecture, may be called by that 

humble name—were furnished with bedrooms and mantelpieces within, 

and plain columns and fluted pilasters without, all of rough pine. The 

plain columns were formed of single bark on, of course. The walls were 

similarly constructed. The village was deserted and with the exception of a 

safeguard, consisting of half a dozen United States soldiers, stationed there 

to protect it from vandalism. 

The gem of the place was the church. Its walls, pillars, pointed arches and 

spire, one hundred feet high [sic], were composed entirely of pines selected 

and arranged with surprising taste and skill. The pulpit was in keeping 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

28

with the rest. Above it was the following inscription: “Presented to the 

members of Poplar Spring Church by the 50th N. Y. V. Engineers. Capt. M. 

H. McGrath, architect.”47

Over the course of the following nine months, the entire camp was disassembled 

except for Poplar Grove Church, which became a refuge for freed slaves who 

held their meetings in the building, and several log barracks that may have been 

at the entrance from Vaughan Road.48 Little is known about the fate of the ornate 

officers’ quarters or any of the other buildings and camp infrastructure. Some 

of the buildings may have been temporarily moved to the adjoining woods and 

fields while plans were being developed for the camp’s new use—as a cemetery for 

Union soldiers.49 

endnotes

1 Keith Frye, Roadside Geology of Virginia (Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1986), 1-2, 83-85. 

Today, geologists use the term Fall Zone, because the divide is typically a broad area of several miles in width (rather than a 

strict line), typically marked by westernmost extent of tidal waters.

2 Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. “The Natural Communities of Virginia, Classification of 

Ecological Community Groups, Second Approximation (Version 2.1), section “General Setting,” online article at http://

www.dcr.virginia.gov/dnh/ncoverview.htm; U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service in 

cooperation with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Soil Survey of Dinwiddie Area, Virginia (N.p.: USDA, 

August 1996), 4.

3 U.S. Geologic Survey, Petersburg Quadrangle, 1969 revised 1987; Richard L. Jones, Dinwiddie County: Carrefour of the 

Commonwealth (Dinwiddie, Virginia: Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors, 1976), 112.

4 Jones, 35; Petersburg Quadrangle map.

5 Soil Survey of Dinwiddie Area, Virginia, 34, 41.

6 “The Natural Communities of Virginia,” sections “The Coastal Plain,” “The Piedmont Plateau.”

7 Robert Schultz, Loblolly Pine: The Ecology and Culture of Loblolly Pine (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Handbook 713, 

December 1997), part 1, page 5.

8 “The Natural Communities of Virginia” and “The Piedmont Plateau.”

9 Jones, 5-6, 37; George Percy Journal of May 26, 1607 cited in Conway Whittle Sams, The Conquest of Virginia, Second 

Attempt (Norfolk: Keiser & Doherty, 1929), cited in Roger Charles Sherry, “Cultural Landscape Report for the Federal Left 

Flank and Fish Hook Siegeworks” (National Park Service Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, October 2004), 11.

10 Jones, 10, 13, 15, 32-35.

11 Jones, 39-40.

12 Jones, 39.

13 Workers of the Writers’ Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Virginia, Dinwiddie County “The 

Countrey of the Apamatica” (Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson for Dinwiddie County School Board, 1942), 164.

14 Benson Lossing, quoted in Dinwiddie County “The Countrey of the Apamatica,” 115-117.

15 Dinwiddie County “The Countrey of the Apamatica”, 165.
29 

Site History, Pre-1866

16 Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion, 275; John Trowbridge, ed. Gordon Carroll, The Desolate South 1865-1866 (New 

York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce-Little, Brown and Company, 1956), 113-114. 

17 Jones, 132-133.

18 Sherry, 13.

19 Jones, 213-214; “Abstract of title to land upon which is located Poplar Grove U.S. National Cemetery” c.1866, (copy; 

see Appendix A), RG 92, Records of the Quartermaster General, Entry 576, Poplar Grove National Cemetery Records, 

National Archives I, Washington, D.C. [hereafter, “Poplar Grove Records, NARA I”], box 57.

20 Dinwiddie County Land Records, Jordon and Francis Floyd and Benjamin Johnson to Benjamin Coupland, book 2, 

page 119, and Floyds to Jeremiah Whitehead, book 2, page 122. The Coupland parcel was surveyed at 453 acres; this was 

later resurveyed to 450 acres. On June 4, 1838, the same day as the deed, Benjamin Coupland signed a “Deed of Trust” 

in the property to Edward L. Pegram and Benjamin Johnson (trustees to the Floyds) in order to use bonds to pay for the 

property. Book 2, page 121.

21 Dinwiddie County Land Records, book 3, page 578. The $1,200 price was less than half the value of the previous 

purchase, probably due to the seven-year depression that followed the panic of 1837. The deed from Coupland to Roney 

describes the property as lying on both sides of Vaughan’s Road, and referenced “said tract of land, together with the 

premises and appurtenances thereto.” The deed from the Floyds to Coupland did not reference premises or appurtenances 

on the land.

22 Dinwiddie County Land Records, book 4, page 529; book 7, page 273; book 8, page 270.

23 Dinwiddie County Land Records, book 7, page 271; book 8, page 275; book 8, page 522; book 8, page 523; and book 9, 

page 221. The trustees included Robert H. Mann, John Mann, and Thomas Branch. Thomas Britton Flower also employed 

a bond to pay for the property; his final release of deed for the property was signed on August 11, 1857. In a letter dated 

June 12, 1866 to Major General Meigs, Lt. Col. James Moore referred to the owner of the cemetery property—Rev. 

Flower—as a “gentleman from Philadelphia” (Delaware County adjoins Philadelphia). Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 

57. The farm is identified as belonging to “John Flowers” [sic] on the “Plan of the Locality of U.S. Nat. Cemetery at Poplar 

Grove. Va.” (Surveyed by G. H. Thomason, C. E., c.1866), Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

24 The residence of “J. B. Flower” is shown on the west side of Vaughan Road on T. R. Rives, “Map of Dinwiddie County 

VA 1878” (traced by F. M. Lundahl, 1935), republished in Jones, back inside cover. 

25 Photographs in the Library of Congress taken in the late fall of 1864 when the Camp of the 50th New York Volunteer 

Engineers was just being set up do not show tree stumps or substantial ground disturbance in the open center of the camp 

that would indicate the area had been recently cleared of trees. These photographs do show loblolly pine woods along the 

west and north perimeters of the camp. 

26 Schultz, 5.

27 National Park Service, Petersburg National Battlefield park brochure (Government Printing Office, 2003); Herbert 

Olsen, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery History” (Unpublished report prepared for the National Park Service, 31 May 

1954), 11-13.

28 Olsen, 20-21.

29 Sherry, 30-41.

30 Frederick Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion, cited in “50th Engineer Regiment Civil War,” New 

York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center webpage, dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/

other/50thEng/50thEngMain/htm.

31 Olsen, 20.

32 Trowbridge, 117. Trowbridge describes passing the winter quarters of the Sixth Corps on his way to the engineers’ 

camp from the Weldon Railroad.

33 The owner of the Flower Farm, Rev. Thomas Britton Flower, purportedly offered the same property to the federal 

government in 1866 for the site of Poplar Grove National Cemetery.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

30

34 Olsen, 20.

35 W. H. Owen, Office of the Inspector General, “Report of Inspection of Poplar Grove. (18 April 1885), Poplar Grove 

Records, NARA I, box 57.

36 The 1864-65 Michler survey does not show the engineers’ camp or roads leading to it. The existence of a road leading 

north is based on the Hastings drawing of the engineers’ camp (see fig. 1.20) and by a causeway indicated through the 

ravine floor to the north of the cemetery on the c.1866 “Plan of the Locality of U.S. Nat. Cemetery at Poplar Grove” (see fig. 

1.24). 

37 The rustic style had its origins in the movement for scenic preservation that began in the 1840s, and in the English 

landscape gardening tradition, with its interest in follies.

38 Hastings drawing (c.1865).

39 William W. Folwell, “A Soldier’s Church,” American Historical Record, vol. 3, no. 36 (December 1874), 548.

40 Olsen, 22, 24-25.

41 “A Soldier’s Church,” 548.

42 “A Soldier’s Church,” 548; Trowbridge, 117; Sherry, 47. 

43 The Petersburg Advertiser, referenced in Olsen, 23. William Folwell gives the following description of the building in his 

article, “A Soldier’s Church:”

The material was the yellow or pitch pine growing in that part of Virginia. This timber has a smooth and closely 

adhering bark, which at a short distance shows the color of brown stone. Captain McGrath decided to so use this 

material that the exterior should not present a square inch of anything but the bark. Accordingly, selecting logs about 

one foot in diameter and nineteen feet long, he planted them “on end” in trenches three feet deep, thus forming the outer 

walls. The flat side was hewn smooth, and the edges were trimmed parallel. The joints were covered outside by rods or 

poles about two inches in diameter, forming a bead-moulding. At top of the walls were pinned “plates” hewn on three 

sides, showing the bark outside. On these were fitted the rafters neatly hewn. The roof was lathed with flattened poles 

and covered with handsome shingles, bolted, rived and shaved on the ground. The windows were closed by clean cotton 

cloth, outside of which small rods were crossed to imitate the “quarries” of stained glass windows. The fire-places and 

chimneys at either end were formed within the outer wall, of one solid brick. This was effected by building within a 

duplicated wall, leaving a space of eight inches, to be filled with tempered clay. / When all was ready the inner wall was 

burned out and the tempered clay baked in a mass...The floors were of puncheons, pinned to sleepers. The seats were 

portable three-legged stools. / The architect designed three elaborate rustic chandeliers, each holding eight candles, to 

light the interior. Inasmuch as the building was intended not merely for devotional purposes, but for the entertainment 

of the command, it was necessary to contrive foot-lights for the rostrum. Twenty-four tin-plates were got from the 

sutler. About one-third of the their surfaces were bent at right angles and nailed to the floor. The remainder of the discs 

concealed a row of candles from the audience.

44 This Hastings perspective drawing shows many details, but the perspective appears to be highly distorted and the 

details do not all agree with period photographs. 

45 Sherry, 45-46.

46 Sherry, 45-47.

47 Trowbridge, 117.

48 Superintendent August Miller to Brevet Lt. Col. James M. Moore, 15 October 1867, and August Miller entry for 30 

November 1869, Poplar Grove Correspondence database (1867), Poplar Grove National Cemetery, Petersburg National 

Battlefield.

49 The earliest known survey of Poplar Grove National Cemetery entitled “Plan of the Locality of U.S. Nat. Cemetery at 

Poplar Grove. Va.” made in c.1866 (see fig. 1.24) shows eighteen buildings scattered in a haphazard manner around the 

periphery of the cemetery where earlier maps showed none, suggesting they may have been temporarily relocated camp 

buildings. 
160

160

170

170

160

170

170

170

To Vaughan Road,

Flower farmhouse

Poplar Grove Church

Officers’ courtyard

(rebuilt winter 1865)

To Fort Clarke

farm fields

R a v i n e 

Additional 

barracks in this area

Camp of the

50th New York 

Volunteer Engineers

(Developed October 1864-March 1865)

Approx. location of 

existing cemetery 

flagstaff

Loblolly pine

Loblolly pine R a v i n e

R a v i n e

Parade grounds

Probably

loblolly pine

Causeway

Entrance road from

Vaughan Road

Arched gate

To military railroad, 

winter quarters of 

the Sixth Corps

To hospital,

officers’ courtyard

Flagstaff

Hedgeenclosed

yard

Building key (circa January 1865)

_______________________________

1. Sutler’s shop

2. Drummer’s Quarters

3. Adjutant’s Quarters

4. Colonel’s Quarters

5. Surgeon’s Quarters

6. Surgeon’s Office

7. Hospital Buildings

8. Ambulance Corps

9. Officers Quarters Company L

10. Officers Quarters Company M

11. Barracks

12. Cook Houses

13. Company M Washhouse

14. Guard House

Buildings added after

 January 1865 not numbered

Company L Street

Company M Street

Well

12

12 11

11

11

11

13

9

10

8

Pontoon boat

storage area

14

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 8

8

Lattice fences

Pole fence

Pole fence

F l o w e r F a r m 

F a r l e y F a r m 

low area

Drawing 1.1

Property line

Current cemetery wall

Building

Tent

Developed area

Road 

Corduroy walk

Fence

Conifer tree, woods

10' contour 

Wetland 

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Pre-Cemetery Period 

Engineers’ Camp, 1865

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

SOURCES

1. PETE GIS Data

2. Thomas, Plan of Poplar Grove Nat. Cemetery, c.1868

3. Camp photographs, 1864-1865

4. Austin camp perspective, Winter 1865

5. Hastings camp perspective, c. March 1865

LEGEND

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter, Illustrator CS3, 2009

0’ 25’ 50’ 75’ 100’

1. All features are shown in approximate scale and location with 

some conjecture. This plan is based largely on historic photographs 

and drawings. 

2. Plan shows landscape at height of engineers’ camp in March 1865. 

These conditions may have persisted through the spring of 1866 

prior to the establishment of the cemetery.

3. Location of initial camp features removed prior to March

1865 are not shown.

4. Landscape conditions prior to establishment of the camp in 

October 1864 are not known.

NOTES

33 

Site History, 1866-1869

Establishment period, 1866-1869

In the spring of 1866, the federal government designated the camp of the 50th

New York Volunteer Engineers as the site of permanent burial grounds for Union 

soldiers who had fallen in the Petersburg Campaign and at other battles in the 

region. Authorized through a Joint Resolution of Congress passed on April 13, 

1866, the new cemetery was named after the centerpiece of the camp—Poplar 

Grove Church. During a three-year search and recovery period, a workforce 

known as the burial corps interred thousands of remains from the battlefields and 

makeshift cemeteries while also making initial landscape improvements. In June 

1869, the burial corps completed its work, having interred 6,183 bodies that took 

up most of the available space in the cemetery. 

Founding of the national cemetery system 

Although the creation of Poplar Grove National Cemetery was a result of the 

unique circumstances of its location, it was also part of a systematic federal effort 

to provide a proper burial for all fallen soldiers. The only cemeteries established 

by the United States military prior to the Civil War were small plots within 

post reservations. Elsewhere, military burials were generally made in civilian 

cemeteries. The one exception to these procedures came about after the Mexican 

War, when Congress approved the establishment of a national cemetery at Mexico 

City in 1850 to inter the remains of 750 Americans who fell in that war. This 

cemetery served as the precedent for handling large-scale burials when casualties 

quickly mounted with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. 1

The first burial regulation of the Civil War, General Orders No. 75 issued on 

September 11, 1861, were intended to improve the burial process. It made 

Commanding Officers responsible for burials, and gave the Quartermaster 

General—traditionally the army office that administered supplies—the 

responsibility of overseeing the registration of burials and providing headboards. 

General Orders No. 75 did not, however, provide authority for acquisition of land 

for burials. This was provided eight months later in General Orders No. 33 issued 

on April 3, 1862, which gave generals the authority to lay out burial grounds near 

the battlefields. Together, these two General Orders resulted in the establishment 

of military cemeteries near hospitals, on battlefields, at Army posts, and in plots 

provided by private cemetery associations. On July 17, 1862 with escalation of 

the war and increasing casualties, Congress passed an act giving the President 

authority “...to purchase cemetery grounds...to be used as a National Cemetery 

for soldiers who shall have died in the service of the country.”2

 This legislation, 

together with the General Orders, formed the basis for a system of national 

cemeteries.By the end of 1862, fourteen national cemeteries had been established 

near battlefields and in private cemeteries, primarily to relieve crowding at pre-
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

34

existing military installations.3 These ranged from Alexandria National Cemetery 

at the wartime encampment surrounding the nation’s capital, to Cypress Hills 

National Cemetery in the private Cypress Hills Cemetery near New York City, 

and Fort Leavenworth (Kansas) National Cemetery at that fort’s old post 

cemetery. Only two battlefield cemeteries were established in the East, by private 

associations under state laws. Ten additional national cemeteries were established 

before the war was over.4

Although these wartime cemeteries formed the basis of a national cemetery 

system, they were for the most part hastily developed, lacking in uniformity and 

able to accommodate only a small percentage of Union soldiers killed in action. 

By the end of the war, only 101,736 of the total 359,520 total Union dead had been 

buried in permanent graves according to the wartime procedures; the majority still 

lay on the battlefields in temporary graves or on the ground.5

 As troops were being 

sent home in June 1865, the War Department—the federal executive department 

headed by the Secretary of War and responsible for the United States military 

establishment— began the enormous task of recovering more than 250,000 bodies 

from the battlefields and temporary cemeteries, and moving them to permanent 

burial sites within national cemeteries. Coordinated within the War Department 

by the Quartermaster General, the creation of these national cemeteries was 

authorized by Congress through a Joint Resolution issued on April 13, 1866, a year 

after the war’s end: 

Resolved...That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby authorized 

and required to take immediate measures to preserve from desecration 

the graves of the soldiers of the United States who fell in battle or died of 

disease in the field and in hospital during the war of the rebellion; to secure 

suitable burial places in which they may be properly interred; and to have 

the grounds enclosed, so that the resting-places of the honored dead may be 

kept sacred forever. 6

To accommodate the enormous number of burials, the War Department 

established fifty new national cemeteries over the course of the search and 

recovery program, for a total of seventy-three national cemeteries established 

by 1869.7

 These national cemeteries were developed and administered through 

various geographic departments by the Cemeterial Division of the Quartermaster 

General. Virginia formed one such department, but it was administered through 

the Depot of Washington, under the charge of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel James 

M. Moore. Moore had prior experience in cemeterial affairs through his work in 

founding Arlington and Battleground National Cemeteries in 1864, both located 

at the nation’s capital.8

 By June 30, 1866, the Quartermaster General reported 

that Colonel Moore had established national cemeteries at Hampton, Richmond, 
35 

Site History, 1866-1869

Cold Harbor, Seven Pines, Glendale, Fort Harrison, Fredericksburg, Ball’s Bluff, 

and Winchester, plus national cemetery plots within the private Hollywood and 

Oakwood Cemeteries near Richmond. At the time of the report, Moore was also 

beginning work on two cemeteries near the Petersburg battlefields—City Point 

and Poplar Grove. 9

While the initial legislation established the general scope of the burial effort, 

there were few regulations about how the cemeteries should be developed and 

administered. This was corrected while the reburial process was underway in 

the years immediately following the war. On February 22, 1867, Congress passed 

legislation providing uniform standards for development entitled “An Act to 

Establish and Protect National Cemeteries.” This act directed the Secretary of War 

to have standard facilities and improvements at each national cemetery, such as 

superintendent’s lodges, grave markers, burial registers, and enclosing fences. The 

act also outlined administrative standards, including hiring of a veteran to serve 

as superintendent, undertaking annual inspections and reports to Congress with 

estimates of necessary appropriations, and securing of title in all cemetery lands 

in fee simple. The legislation provided $750,000 for implementation in addition 

to funds previously appropriated. Interpreted and expanded through regulations 

issued by the Quartermaster General, the act of 1867 would remain the basis for 

the development, maintenance, and administration of national cemeteries for 

many subsequent decades.10 

Founding of poplar grove national cemetery, 1866

For nearly a year after the Civil War ended on April 3, 1865, a majority of the 

Union dead still lay on the battlefields of Petersburg, many buried where they 

had fallen (fig. 1.21). There had been just two known attempts during the war 

to collect the bodies at Petersburg into 

cemeteries. In 1864, the Union Army 

established two temporary battlefield 

cemeteries near Meade Station, along the 

military railroad close to Fort Stedman in 

the eastern front. By March 1865, 1,214 

Union soldiers had been buried in these 

two cemeteries, but this number accounted 

for only a fraction of the soldiers who died 

in battle. Another two cemeteries were 

established in 1864 near the depot hospitals 

at City Point and Point-of-Rocks (west of 

Petersburg), where wounded soldiers who 

died there were given a proper burial.11

The City Point hospital cemetery was an 

Figure 1.21: Battlefield burials at 

Warren Station near the Globe 

Tavern, east of the future site of 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

(burial mounds visible below 

railing at left), c.1864. It was from 

such sites that most of the bodies 

at Poplar Grove were removed. 

(Petersburg National Battlefield.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

36

unadorned field, marked by grave mounds and white-painted 

headboards, and enclosed by a wood fence (fig. 1.22). 

On November 23, 1865, Colonel C. H. Folson issued a report 

to Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs recommending 

that permanent military cemeteries be established at Petersburg 

to secure the numerous scattered graves on the battlefield, 

which Folson believed were in danger of being destroyed as 

local farmers returned the land to agriculture. In his report 

to Meigs, Folson recommended that the two cemeteries near 

Meade Station (near Fort Stedman) serve as the nuclei of 

the permanent cemeteries. The Office of the Quartermaster 

General apparently took no action on Colonel Folson’s 

recommendation regarding the Meade Station cemeteries. 12 

At the time of Folson’s November 23rd report, Lieutenant Colonel James M. 

Moore was in the process of selecting sites for national cemeteries in his role of 

supervising the reburial program in Virginia. On April 17, 1866, more than a year 

after the end of the Petersburg Campaign, Moore requested authority to select 

sites for national cemeteries near Petersburg, having previously concentrated on 

the Richmond-area cemeteries. On April 30, Moore received authority to select 

the sites for approval by the Secretary of War, to be accompanied by a report with 

a description of the land and a survey 

with an abstract of title.13

By early May of 1866, Lieutenant Colonel 

Moore had selected two cemetery sites: 

one at City Point and a second at the 

camp of the 50th New York Volunteer 

Engineers in Dinwiddie County. 

Moore selected these two sites for their 

proximity to the major battlefields: the 

City Point site apparently because it 

covered the eastern front and was near to 

the hospital cemetery, from which bodies 

were to be reinterred; and the engineers’ 

camp because it was near the battlefields 

of the Federal western front. Centrality 

of location was not, however, Moore’s 

only reason, because both cemeteries 

were to receive bodies from far afield. 

On June 12, 1866, Moore outlined his 

Figure 1.22: Union Army hospital 

cemetery at City Point, Virginia, 

c.1865. Note grave mounds, whitepainted headboards, and enclosing 

fence. (From a stereograph by 

Mathew B. Brady, Collection of the 

New-York Historical Society.) 

Figure 1.23: Detail, Quartermaster survey of site for Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

by G. H. Thomson, made soon after the site was selected by Lieutenant Colonel 

James M. Moore, circa May 1866. The property at the time was owned by Reverend 

Thomas Britton Flower, not “John Flowers” (sic). Note approach road at bottom right 

of parcel and annotation indicating one-acre addition made in 1867. (Records of the 

Quartermaster General, Entry 576, Poplar Grove National Cemetery Records, box 56, 

National Archives I.)
37 

Site History, 1866-1869

reasons for selecting the engineers’ camp to Quartermaster General Meigs, in 

response to a request made by a Mr. Colfax, (a local resident) who supported the 

Meade Station (Fort Stedman) location that had been recommended by Colonel 

Folson: 

...The site [engineers’ camp] is a more central one, and is in every 

respect superior and better adapted for burial purposes, than the one 

referred to by Hon. Mr. Colfax. The ground is owned by a gentleman from 

Philadelphia, who kindly offered to deed the same gratitously [sic] to the 

United States. The necessity for purchasing the land is therefore obviated. 

The site at Poplar Grove is a most excellent one, and the cemetery, when 

completed, will be one of the finest in the country...14

Although in his letter Moore did not make specific reference to the engineers’ 

camp as a reason for selecting the site, the refinement of the camp with its serene, 

pine-woods setting and rustic church undoubtedly influenced his decision. 

Moore’s reference to the site as “Poplar Grove” indicates the symbolic importance 

of the church, which must have given the site a 

feeling of sanctity and perhaps also was seen as a 

fitting war memento.5

By the latter part of May 1866, soon after 

Lieutenant Colonel Moore had selected the site 

but before the cemetery was officially established, 

work apparently began on moving bodies to what 

was initially called “U.S. National Cemetery at 

Poplar Grove, Virginia.”16 In accordance with 

the April 30, 1866 orders from the Secretary of 

War, Moore had an Army surveyor prepare an 

abstract of title and a survey of the property, plus 

an illustrated map showing the larger setting 

(figs. 1.23, 1.24; abstract of title in Appendix 

A).17 Although the abstract and maps were not 

dated, they were probably made soon after 

Moore had selected the site in early May 1866, 

and before June 1, 1866, when work was begun 

on the cemetery along with the one at City Point. 

This work was probably of a preparatory nature, 

rather than actual burials that most likely began 

in June.18

Figure 1.24: Detail, 

Quartermaster General map 

surveyed by G. H. Thomson 

in circa May 1866 to illustrate 

the context of the cemetery at 

Poplar Grove. Buildings within 

the cemetery parcel, including 

Poplar Grove Church, are not 

shown. Note causeway in ravine 

north of the cemetery, probably 

a remnant of the entrance 

road into the engineers’ camp. 

(Records of the Quartermaster 

General, Entry 576, Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery Records, box 

56, National Archives I.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

38

The site for the new cemetery was a rectangular parcel 

surveyed at 7.2 acres and centered at the middle 

of the camp’s parade grounds. Initially designed to 

accommodate 5,000 graves, Poplar Grove ranked 

among the larger national cemeteries established in the 

Virginia district.19 The parcel measured approximately 

645 feet on the north and south, and 475 feet on the 

east and west sides, and was accessed by a drive at the 

southwest corner, probably following a pre-existing 

entry to the camp from Vaughan Road (see figs. 1.23, 

1.24). The parcel was situated entirely within the 

property belonging to Thomas B. Flower and probably 

occupied by John and Mary Ann Flower, but it shared about three-quarters of 

its south boundary with the farm belonging to Helen Farley. While work on the 

cemetery commenced in 1866, it would be nearly two years before the federal 

government actually secured title to the property from Thomas B. Flower, in 

keeping with the Act of February 22, 1867.

Design of National Cemetery Landscapes

The national cemeteries established by the federal government for the Civil War 

dead not only provided decent burial places for soldiers, but were also designed 

to evoke military association and federal authority.20 Although the cemeteries 

varied in plan, they were visually united through common design elements that 

drew upon both vernacular and high style civilian precedent, from the traditional 

graveyard to the picturesque rural cemetery.

Throughout the nineteenth century, small, vernacular 

cemeteries in rural areas were typically graveyards 

characterized by upright headstones (tablets) set in 

rows and enclosed with a wall or fence, with little 

accompanying landscape ornamentation (fig. 1.25). The 

cemeteries established by the Army at frontier posts prior 

to the Civil War generally followed these patterns, using 

simple wooden headboards with a rounded top and 

bearing a registration number and name.21

In the 1830s, the old graveyards began to give way to a 

new style known as the rural cemetery, so-named for 

its suburban location and expansive grounds intended 

not only for mortuary uses, but also for recreational 

activities such as strolling. Designed in the style of 

eighteenth-century English landscape gardens, rural 

Figure 1.25: Example of a 

traditional eighteenth-century 

graveyard in Ephrata, Pennsylvania 

with characteristic slab 

headstones, row arrangement, 

lack of ornamental plantings, and 

perimeter wall, photographed 

1936. (Historic American Building 

Survey, Library of Congress 

American Memory Collection, 

digital image HABS PA 36-EPH.)

Figure 1.26: Plan of Mount 

Auburn Cemetery, the prototype 

American rural cemetery, showing 

naturalistic design. (Cornelia 

Walter, Mount Auburn: Illustrated 

in Highly Finished Line Engraving, 

1847.)
39 

Site History, 1866-1869

cemeteries featured idealized natural and rural 

characteristics typified by curving drives that 

wound through meadows and groves, framing 

picturesque views with often elaborate grave 

monuments serving as focal points. Traditional 

headstones were generally forbidden. The 

prototype was Mount Auburn Cemetery in 

Cambridge, Massachusetts, established in 1831 

(fig. 1.26).22 By the middle of the century, two 

variants on the rural cemetery style became 

popular. One was the garden cemetery, a more 

ornamental landscape featuring beds of colorful flowering annuals and exotic 

plants, clipped shrubs, and walls and fences around family burial plots.23 The 

other variant, known as the lawn cemetery, was basically a simplification of the 

rural cemetery. Originated in an 1855 plan by landscape gardener Adolphus 

Strauch for Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery, the lawn cemetery emphasized 

an overall picturesque landscape effect, eliminating such things as plot fences, 

curbing, and ornamental plantings to create broad areas of open lawn marked by 

monuments, trees, and views of distant prospects (fig. 1.27).24

While the design of the first national cemeteries reflected these precedents, many 

traced their stylistic origin to Gettysburg National Cemetery, designed in 1863 by 

landscape gardener William Saunders of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.25

His plan for the cemetery, near the battlefield and adjoining a decade-old 

rural cemetery outside the village of Gettysburg, featured an overall informal, 

picturesque landscape much like the style found in rural cemeteries, but with the 

burial plots at the center arranged in a contrasting geometric form with concentric 

half circles facing a central monument (figs. 1.28, 1.29). Saunders’ design was 

in keeping with the recently 

introduced lawn style, with 

its winding approach drives, 

broad sweep of lawn framed 

by naturalistic plantings of 

trees, and overall simplicity.26

Yet the stark geometry of the 

burials, perimeter stone wall, 

and uniform design of the 

gravestones for soldiers and 

officers alike, consisting of 

continuous curb-like markers, 

clearly set the cemetery apart 

from the surrounding civilian 

Figure 1.27: Entrance to Spring 

Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, the 

prototype lawn-style cemetery 

designed in 1855, photographed in 

c.1869. (Adolphus Strauch, Spring 

Grove Cemetery: Its History and 

Improvements, 1869.)

Figure 1.28: Plan of Gettysburg 

National Cemetery, designed by 

William Saunders in 1863, showing 

circular burial grounds surrounded 

by a picturesque landscape with 

curving drives. Gravesites were 

organized by state within the 

concentric circles, facing the 

central monument. Adjoining 

Evergreen Cemetery was a preexisting rural cemetery. (Harpers 

New Monthly Magazine, August 

1866.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

40

cemetery. Its circular plan evoked not only 

traditional mortuary associations with 

religion and eternity, but also the strict 

structure of military formation.27 Antietam 

National Cemetery, established in 1865 

near Sharpsburg, Maryland, was an early 

example of the Gettysburg model.28 Some 

national cemeteries, however, owed 

more to the old post cemeteries and 

graveyards than Gettysburg. Alexandria 

National Cemetery, established in 1863, 

featured a simple linear plan and wooden 

headboards without any picturesque 

landscape effect to the setting (fig. 1.30). 

While little is known about how the War Department designed the plans for 

Poplar Grove or other national cemeteries in the Virginia district, they all owe 

some similarity to Gettysburg with its circular plan and central focal point, and 

the older model of straight rows and simple headboards used at Alexandria. 

Unlike Gettysburg, none of the Virginia district cemeteries featured a picturesque 

landscape setting, most likely due to the government’s cost constraints. The 

cemeteries encompassed the burial grounds and little more except for a small area 

of ornamental grounds, typically at the entrance or along the outside of the burial 

plots. Those cemeteries categorized as small, generally from one to four acres 

(later as third and fourth class) included Glendale, Fort Harrison, Seven Pines, 

and Yorktown National Cemeteries. Large cemeteries (later classified as first and 

second class) included Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Poplar Grove, and Richmond.29

The plan and program of improvements at each cemetery was generally closely 

related to its size and number of burials.

The small Glendale National Cemetery, 

established in 1866 east of Richmond, 

consisted of a two-acre rectangular parcel 

with a circular burial plan, an outside 

circular drive, two cross-axis drives, and 

a central flagstaff (fig. 1.31). In contrast, 

the larger City Point National Cemetery 

located east of Petersburg, established in 

1866, consisted of a seven-acre parcel with 

a rectangular burial plan, two small circular 

elements in the center for a flagstaff and 

monument, and a circular entrance area 

Figure 1.29: General view at 

Gettysburg National Cemetery 

showing simplicity of original 

landscape design, photographed 

c.1913. (Detroit Publishing 

Company, in Library of Congress 

American Memory Collection, 

digital image 6a09510.)

Figure 1.30: Alexandria (Virginia) 

National Cemetery, photographed 

c.1865. While contemporary 

with Gettysburg, this cemetery 

followed traditional military post 

cemeteries in its layout. (Library 

of Congress, American Memory 

Collection, digital image LC-DIGcwpob-03928DLC.)
41 

Site History, 1866-1869

outside the burial grounds (fig. 1.32). In keeping with General Orders Nos. 33 and 

75, and with the Congressional act of July 17, 1862, these and all other national 

cemeteries were initially developed with uniform white-painted headboards with 

black lettering, and white-painted wood paling fences around the perimeter, 

similar to Alexandria National Cemetery (see fig. 1.30). As part of the initial 

development under the burial corps, the graves were generally mounded to allow 

for settling, the grounds were sodded, and the drives were surfaced in gravel. A 

central flagstaff, often placed upon a circular mound and adjoining one or more 

gun monuments, was generally part of the initial development as well. 

Development of the Poplar Grove landscape, 1866-1869

When Lieutenant Colonel James M. Moore selected the site for Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery in late April or May of 1866, the camp of the 50th New York 

Volunteer Engineers had been standing vacant for nearly a year except for some 

caretaker troops and occasional meetings in the church. Since John Trowbridge’s 

visit in late September 1865 when he described the camp as “one of the most 

beautiful villages ever seen,” all of the buildings except for Poplar Grove Church 

and several log barracks had probably been disassembled or moved to new 

locations. The survey of the environs of the cemetery made by the Office of the 

Quartermaster General in circa May 1866 indicated fourteen buildings around 

the periphery of the parcel (fig. 1.33). Since none of these buildings are shown 

on earlier or later maps of the area, it seems likely these may have been camp 

buildings used perhaps by the burial corps, temporarily moved outside of the 

grounds being prepared as the site of the cemetery.30 

Figure 1.31 (left): Plan of 

Glendale National Cemetery, 

established in 1866 just prior to 

Poplar Grove, showing circular 

burial plan, from an 1892 survey. 

(Records of the Quartermaster 

General, RG 92, Entry 691, 

National Archives I.)

Figure 1.32 (right): Plan of 

City Point National Cemetery, 

commenced at the same time as 

Poplar Grove in 1866, showing 

a linear burial plan with central 

circular elements for a flagstaff 

and a monument, from an 

1892 survey. (Records of the 

Quartermaster General, RG 92, 

Entry 691, National Archives I.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

42

The Cemetery Plan

Prior to the start of burials in the summer of 1866, the Office of the Quartermaster 

General had decided upon a circular plan for Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 

While this was among the most important decisions in determining the character 

of the cemetery, no known record survives of how the circular plan was chosen. 

Since the Quartermaster General apparently had no set design requirements 

for cemetery plans, the person responsible for selecting the cemetery site and 

approving its development—Lieutenant Colonel James M. Moore—was most 

likely influential, if not responsible, for the circular design. Moore had overseen 

the development of other cemeteries with circular plans, notably Battleground 

(1864) and Glendale (1866), although it is not known if he personally designed 

those plans. Most of the cemeteries under his jurisdiction did, however, feature 

circular elements and shared a simple layout organized around a central flagstaff. 

Aside from traditional mortuary and religious associations symbolizing life 

everlasting, the inspiration for the circular plan at Poplar Grove may have been the 

symmetrical layout of the engineers’ camp.

The circular plan with room for approximately 5,000 graves was centered at a 

point on axis with the entrance to Poplar Grove Church and the center of the 

officers’ quarters courtyard. The circle was slightly off-center within the entire 

cemetery parcel, creating a larger area for burials along the west side (fig. 1.34). 

The center of the cemetery was planned as an open circle for a flagstaff, with the 

church building located to its north.31 Extending out from the center, the plan 

was divided in eight radiating segments organized into four larger areas known 

as “divisions” and lettered A 

through D; each division was in 

turn subdivided into smaller areas 

known as “sections.” Graves were 

planned in concentric circles 

radiating out from the center, with 

rows ten feet apart and individual 

graves generally spaced at five 

feet.32 All grave markers were 

intended to face the flagstaff, 

with the inscriptions visible when 

viewed from the center.33 On the 

east and west sides, the graves 

transitioned to parallel rows, 

following the rectangular property 

boundaries. 

Not to scale

Figure 1.33: Detail of 1866 survey 

(fig. 1.24) showing topography 

of cemetery site, and buildings 

scattered around the periphery. 

The plan does not show any 

buildings, trees, or roads that may 

have been within the cemetery 

boundaries at the time. (National 

Archives I, detail of fig. 1.24, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)
43 

Site History, 1866-1869

The divisions and sections of the cemetery 

were defined by drives, which were the 

wider routes of circulation, measuring 

twelve feet wide. Walks were the narrower 

passages between individual rows, 

measuring between eight and ten feet 

wide.34 Within the main circular part of the 

cemetery, the walks and drives all followed 

either a circular or cross-axis layout with a 

few exceptions. The main drive extending 

from the cemetery entrance followed a 

slightly curving alignment at the outer edge 

of the circle, probably because it followed 

the alignment of a pre-existing entrance 

into the engineers’ camp. In addition, at the 

rear of Poplar Grove Church in Division C, 

two short drives dividing sections C-c and 

C-d curved toward the center, a layout that may have been designed in response 

to the church.35 The drives in the outer areas reflected the irregular boundaries of 

the sections that resulted from the transition to parallel rows and the off-center 

placement of the main circular area.

Burials and Initial Improvements 

According to Lieutenant General Moore’s account, the burial corps began work 

by May of 1866 on searching, recovering, and removing Union remains to the 

camp of the 50th New York Engineers.36 Jennie Friend, who lived near Poplar 

Grove, described the scene that summer: 

The summer of 1866 was a time of searching through the country for the 

Union dead, to place in the cemetery. Five dollars was given [to civilians] 

for every collection of bones with a skull...The many dead lying about, 

with partially covered bodies, and worse yet the un-earthing of these 

bodies, made the whole country sickly...37

For its first fifteen months of work, the burial corps was under the supervision of 

an acting superintendent, Major William S. Johnson, who was a discharged officer 

of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry. He in turn was responsible to Lieutenant Colonel 

James Moore in the Office of the Quartermaster General, which provided pay 

and supplies. In June 1867, a year into its work, the Poplar Grove burial corps 

reportedly employed ninety-six men, and had thirteen wagons, one ambulance, 

four carts, eighty-seven mules, and twenty-eight horses. 38 These numbers 

Figure 1.34: Diagram of burial 

grounds showing organization 

into divisions and sections, and 

approximate relationship to 

pre-existing officers’ quarters 

courtyard and Poplar Grove 

Church. Division F is within 

the acre added to the original 

cemetery parcel. (SUNY ESF.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

44

probably reflected typical conditions during the first year of the burial corps when 

the bulk of the burials were made.

Between May and July of 1866, the burial corps was most likely busy with initial 

site preparation. Although the engineers’ camp, as Lieutenant General Moore 

had noted in his initial survey, was well suited for a cemetery, it nonetheless 

required substantial preparation before burials could begin. The flat, treeless 

parade grounds at the center of the site required little work, but beyond it the 

officers’ quarters, log barracks, fences, and walks had to be removed, if they 

had not been removed already, and their sites leveled. The most intensive work 

occurred beyond the limits of the engineers’ camp—the cemetery parcel extended 

approximately 150 feet west and north of the fence that enclosed the camp. 

Here, to create suitable land for burials, the loblolly pine woods were thinned, 

leaving approximately 180 trees as specimens and creating what was likely a shady 

setting on the west and north sides. Although the center and southern half of 

the cemetery were relatively level, the land dropped to the northwest corner by 

approximately fifteen feet due to a shallow ravine that fed into wetlands northwest 

of the cemetery (see fig. 1.33). Although this ravine was too large to fill, its bottom 

grade may have been raised. A smaller ravine at the northeastern corner was 

apparently filled.39 

Burials in permanent graves within the cemetery most likely began on June 18, 

1866. 40 Work included burying the wooden caskets that were stacking up outside 

of the cemetery since the recovery effort began in May, and accommodating what 

must have been a steady stream of new arrivals. Over the course of the following 

year, the burial corps recovered bodies from most of the battlefields at Petersburg, 

including The Crater, Five Forks, Fort Stedman, Fort Gregg, Fort Hell, Weldon 

Railroad, Dinwiddie Court House, Hatcher’s Run, Meade Station, and Ream’s 

Station, and from several field hospital graveyards. Other bodies were recovered 

from battlefields at Lynchburg, Appomattox Station, and Harrison’s Landing. 41 A 

sampling of the fallen soldiers buried at Poplar Grove includes: 

William Montgomery: Mortally wounded at Appomattox Court House on 

April 9, 1865, Montgomery is believed to be the last enlisted man killed in 

Virginia. He was just eighteen years old when he died. (Burial #4841, Private, 

Company I, 155th Pennsylvania Infantry)

Hiram W. Clark: Clark was twenty-six years old when he was killed on April 9, 

1865, just before the Confederate surrender. He is believed to be the last Union 

officer killed in Virginia. (Burial #4800, Lieutenant, Company G, 185th New 

York Infantry)
45 

Site History, 1866-1869

Maroot Bower: Bower was taken prisoner in Lynchburg in 1862 and 

transferred to a prison camp. When he stepped a few feet beyond the confines 

of the prison to obtain a bucket of water, he was shot dead by a guard. He was 

thirty-six years old. (Burial #4607, Private, Company E, 66th Ohio Infantry)

Edwin Keys: Wounded in the battle of Lynchburg, Keys had his arm and leg 

amputated at the Union field hospital. He and several other men were left 

behind when their unit fled the city, but was then captured and he died the 

following day. He was thirty-five years old and left behind his wife of ten years, 

Sybil. (Burial #4950, Captain, Company B, 116th Ohio Infantry) 42

The process of burial began at the center in Division A, section a, in the south half 

of the cemetery across from Poplar Grove Church. Burials followed a sequential 

grave numbering system that proceeded by row through each section, filling in 

the division before moving to the next 

division in a counterclockwise fashion. 

The only major exception to this process 

occurred in Division C where Poplar 

Grove Church stood (the gravesites here 

were still numbered sequentially in line 

with the adjoining sections, in anticipation 

of the removal of the church).43 The graves 

were arranged according to how they 

were brought to the cemetery. Known and 

unknown graves were generally clustered, 

but without formal arrangement. Each 

grave was covered with a foot-high earthen 

mound intended to provide fill as the grave 

sunk with the decomposition of the body 

and wooden coffin. In order to stabilize 

the soil, the grave mounds were covered in sod brought in from various locations 

in the vicinity.44 Each grave was marked by a typical white-painted headboard, 

similar to those used on the battlefields and the cemeteries established during the 

war, such as Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C. (fig. 1.35). They were made of 

pine with black lettering noting the name and rank of the soldier, if known, and, 

unlike those at Soldiers’ Home, also noting the place from where the body was 

taken. 45 Most of the graves contained one body, but some of the unidentified 

graves had the remains of more than one soldier, some with up to six.46

On June 10, 1867, Major General Lorenzo Thomas completed the cemetery’s 

first inspection, reporting that the burial corps had interred 5,196 Union remains, 

including two sailors, one citizen, eighty-four officers, and 306 African Americans. 

Figure 1.35: Example of 

standard white-painted wooden 

headboards used in initial national 

cemetery development, in a c.1865 

photograph of the Soldiers’ Home 

National Cemetery, Washington, 

D.C. by Titian Ramsay Peale. 

This cemetery, like Poplar Grove, 

was under the supervision of 

Lieutenant Captain James M. 

Moore. Also note grave mounds 

and brick gutters along the gravel 

drives. (United States Sanitary 

Commission Records, New York 

Public Library Digital Gallery, 

digital ID 1150094.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

46

Of the total, 2,126 of the remains were positively identified, and 3,070 were 

unidentified. At the time of the Army report, the burial corps anticipated only 

three hundred additional burials.47 Orders for disbanding the burial corps were 

issued in September 1867, only to be revoked within several weeks due to the 

discovery of additional bodies. Over the two years following the order to disband, 

the burial corps reinterred an additional 923 remains at the cemetery, bringing the 

total to 6,182 bodies. Only thirty-five percent, or approximately 2,164 remains, 

were positively identified. On June 30, 1869, the burial corps finally disbanded. 48

While burials were the focus of the burial corps, some of the men also worked on 

landscape improvements. In addition to mounding and sodding the graves, and 

erecting the headboards, the burial corps built the walks and drives; erected a 

central wooden flagstaff on a six-foot high, forty-foot wide circular mound; and, 

as required by War Department regulations and Congressional legislation, erected 

a fence around the perimeter of the cemetery to protect the graves, notably from 

livestock. This was a five-foot high, white-washed paling (picket) fence supported 

by cedar posts with black-painted tops. 49 

On August 20, 1867, as burial work was slowing, the cemetery’s first 

superintendent, August Miller, arrived for duty. A thirty-eight year-old disabled 

Civil War veteran born in Baden, Germany, Miller served as superintendent 

of Poplar Grove until 1876. He was directly responsible to the Quartermaster 

General (Washington Depot) and supervised five laborers who were separate 

from the burial corps, which remained under the command of its own acting 

superintendent. 50 The burial corps generally continued work on construction 

projects and burials, while Miller and his crew were responsible for maintenance 

work, such as mowing and weeding.51

By October 1867, the burial corps had completed the drives, which were surfaced 

in gravel and edged by 12,000 linear feet of brick-lined gutters (see fig. 1.35). 

These gutters, recommended by Major General Lorenzo Thomas in his June 

10, 1867 inspection report, fed into wooden culverts (sewer boxes) that carried 

drainage outside of the cemetery and under drives and walks. The boxes varied in 

length from twenty-four to 210 feet for a total of 768 lineal feet, and were from one 

to two-and-one-half feet below grade. The gutters proved to be a maintenance 

problem for Superintendent Miller and his crew, who spent considerable time 

repairing faulty masonry and damage from the freeze-thaw cycle.52

One of the main projects required of the burial corps was the building of a lodge 

for the superintendent. At the time of Miller’s arrival at Poplar Grove on August 

20, 1867, work had not yet begun on this building, so he took up temporary 

quarters in a wall tent. Miller was informed that plans were to build a frame lodge 
47 

at the southwest corner of the cemetery, on the north side of the main entry drive 

(east of existing garage). In order to build here, approximately twenty graves had 

to be relocated. Miller felt that the planned lodge was too small, and that there was 

insufficient space around it for a flower garden, and so wrote to the Quartermaster 

General requesting that the cemetery be expanded to build the lodge on the south 

side of the approach road, outside of what was then the main entrance gate.53

Despite Miller’s request, the burial corps began work in late August of 1867 

on relocating the graves and building the lodge at the initial site it had selected, 

probably on the assumption that the building would be temporary and that it 

would take some time to acquire the additional land. In September, the burial 

corps completed the lodge, a small rectangular frame building with board-andbatten siding and without an office or porch.54

In keeping with the Act of February 22, 1867, the federal government was required 

to obtain title to the cemetery land, which two years into the cemetery still 

remained in private ownership. This delay in securing title was most likely due 

to a change in ownership and expectations. Reverend Thomas Britton Flower 

had indicated to Lieutenant General Moore that he would donate the property 

to the government, but his death shortly after the cemetery’s establishment in 

1866 transferred the property to his young male children and their guardian, who 

decided against donation.55

Despite the continuing difficulties with the purchase, Superintendent Miller 

received instruction from Lieutenant Colonel Moore on November 25, 1867 to 

add the one-acre parcel that Miller had earlier suggested as the site for a lodge. At 

the time, the configuration of the addition had not been determined, but within 

a few months, a new survey was completed showing an ‘L’-shaped one-acre 

extension at the southwest corner of the original cemetery plot (see fig. 1.23). The 

size of the cemetery with the addition was 8.13 acres. 56

By the spring of 1868, the Flower heirs turned to the federal District Court in 

Virginia to request an appraisal of the cemetery property as was their right under 

the Act of February 22, 1867. On March 18, 1868, Moore reported that title papers 

for the 8.13-acre property were nearly complete, and then on April 3, 1868, the 

District Court issued an appraisal of $1,500. On the same date, Bradley T. Johnson, 

the court-appointed special commissioner for the Flower heirs, signed the deed, 

and eight months later on December 15, 1868 it was officially recorded at the 

Dinwiddie County Courthouse.57 An intended thirty-foot wide right-of-way along 

the approach road that ran across the Flower farm was apparently left out of the 

final deed. 58

Site History, 1866-1869
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

48

By the time the deed to the cemetery had been recorded in the spring of 1868, 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery was taking on the appearance of completion, 

with its thousands of white headboards and grave mounds radiating out from the 

mounded central white flagstaff, gravel and brick gutter-lined drives, a small frame 

lodge marking the entrance, and a perimeter white-painted paling fence. The 

numerous loblolly pines in the cemetery made much of it shady, although many 

were probably declining due to root disturbance from the burials. Visible across 

open fields from Vaughan Road and framed by a background of pine woods to 

its east, the stark whiteness and geometry of the cemetery probably stood out 

even from afar. Its appearance would have been a marked contrast with the rustic 

architecture of the engineers’ camp that blended in with its wooded surroundings. 

The one-acre addition at the main entrance, which Superintendent Miller had 

cleared of stumps and rubbish by early March 1868, remained outside of the 

perimeter fence and was otherwise unimproved. 59

The one feature that had stood in stark contrast to the rest of the white and 

geometric cemetery landscape—Poplar Grove Church—had disappeared by the 

time that the deed was recorded in April 1868. As late as the fall of 1867, local 

African Americans were using the church as a meeting place as they had even 

before the cemetery was established. Finding this problematic, Superintendent 

Miller had requested permission in October 1867 to cease this use once the 

cemetery was completed: “...I would state that after dark those people commit 

nuisance around, and about the Building, and it is impossible to detect the 

perpetrators. To preserve the Graves from desecration, it is necessary that the 

Church will be locked, and the Meetings discontinued.”60 At the same time, 

the wooden building was showing signs of advanced deterioration. Miller 

recommended by midwinter that the entire building be removed from the 

cemetery. In February 1868, he wrote to the Assistant Quartermaster General: 

“...This building is now fast decaying, the Timber beginning to rot, the Window 

Lights are broken, and the Roof is in a leaky condition...” 61 The burial corps and 

Miller’s laborers had apparently put no effort into maintaining the building, and 

the grave numbering system suggests that the Quartermaster General had not 

intended the church to be a permanent feature of the cemetery. At some point 

between March 20 and April 28, 1868, the burial corps removed Poplar Grove 

Church, and subsequently filled its site in sections a and b of Division C with 

graves (see fig. 1.34).62 The church was purportedly acquired by a private citizen 

from New York City and erected for a time in Central Park, where it was exhibited 

as a war relic.63

Following the removal of Poplar Grove Church, the burial corps, which numbered 

about thirty men by December 1868, continued to work on the cemetery 

landscape during its final year that ended on June 30, 1869. 64 Superintendent 
49 

Miller was reporting his frustration with their progress, reporting “...that the 

object of the burial Corps is not to complete the Cemetery as soon as practicable, 

but to make the work last as long as possible.”65 The corps continued to bury 

the small number of bodies that were discovered during this time, and erect 

headboards and sod the grave mounds. From the time Poplar Grove Church was 

removed through June 30, 1869, the burial corps had interred an additional 278 

bodies in 270 graves. Due to lack of space, in the winter of 1869 the corps had 

to bury twenty-three bodies outside of the cemetery, but these were eventually 

interred within the cemetery, probably to new burial sections created along the 

perimeter and in Division F within the one-acre expansion. This division was 

opened in the spring of 1869 and contained eighty-two burials by May 24, 1869. 

One hundred and forty-two additional bodies were reinterred in the cemetery in 

June 1869, most going into Division F. 66

In addition to grave work, the burial corps also made some landscape 

improvements during its final year. In February 1869, four upright 

cannons known as gun monuments were positioned symmetrically 

around the flagstaff at the outer edge of the innermost circular drive, 

requiring the relocation of five graves. Gun monuments were a standard 

feature in National Cemeteries in Virginia, with the large cemeteries, 

such as Poplar Grove and Richmond, receiving four, and the smaller 

cemeteries, such as Glendale, Cold Harbor, and Seven Pines, one. The 

Poplar Grove gun monuments were thirty-two pounder Columbiad 

canons acquired from Fort Monroe, a federal fort on the Chesapeake 

Bay in Hampton, Virginia, and brought to Poplar Grove in the fall of 

1868. As installed, the guns were six feet-seven inches tall and topped 

by a cannon-ball cap; they were surrounded by a masonry platform 

on which were set pyramidal stacks of cannon balls (a total of eightyfour).67 One featured a plaque with the name of the cemetery and the 

burial record (fig. 1.36). Other landscape enhancements undertaken by the burial 

corps included planting of approximately 1,000 small cedar trees, which were 

transplanted from nearby woods during the winter of 1868-1869. All but about 

eighty failed to take root.68

While the burial corps was occupied with its work, Superintendent Miller 

and his crew of five worked on sodding remaining bare grave mounds and the 

space between the graves; hoeing the gravel drives to remove grass; cleaning 

out the brick gutters; painting and numbering new headboards; planting trees, 

flowering shrubs, and annuals; and mowing. In March 1869, Miller established 

four flowerbeds around the frame lodge representing the “Corps badges,” 

probably in the style of Victorian carpet beds. He also maintained a hotbed 

for starting flowering annuals, and made cuttings of weeping willow trees—a 

Site History, 1866-1869

Figure 1.36: Bronze shield on the 

northern gun monument installed 

in c.June 1869, from a 1968 

photograph. This was apparently 

the only sign within the cemetery 

at the time. (Photograph by Fred 

Bell, 2 June 1968, Poplar Grove 

administrative records, Petersburg 

National Battlefield.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

50

species with long-standing mortuary associations.69 In his correspondence to 

the Office of Quartermaster General during the spring of 1869, Miller noted 

several maintenance problems, notably grass growing in the joints of the brick 

gutters and in the gravel drives; settling of the ground; and deterioration of the 

wooden headboards. Miller also reported on the inadequacy of the frame lodge, 

and the need for a woodshed, tool room, and privy. He complained about the 

bad condition of the water supply, which was via a tube well—a rudimentary well 

made by driving a tube or pipe into the ground and usually outfitted with a hand 

pump.70

With the disbanding of the burial corps at Poplar Grove National Cemetery on 

June 30, 1869, the cemetery with its 6,136 interments was officially complete. 

It was probably at this time that the gun monument located north of the circle, 

in front of the site of Poplar Grove Church, was ornamented with a standard 

eagle-emblazoned bronze shield providing the name of the cemetery, its date of 

establishment, and a tally of the burial record (fig 1.36).

The total cost of the search, recovery, reinterment, and construction program at 

Poplar Grover amounted to approximately $107,000, which was $33,000 more 

than earlier estimated.71 Despite the substantial cost, there remained much 

outstanding work. Two hundred and seventy new graves in Division F—the 

new division within the added acre—had not been mounded or marked with 

headboards. The perimeter fence had not been extended around the one-acre 

addition, and there remained within the area several log cabins. 72 There were also 

several things left undone that Major General Lorenzo Thomas had identified 

in his inspection report of June 10, 1869, including the addition of a perimeter 

iron fence, a gateway, and permanent grave markers. 73 These features would be 

addressed in the refinement of the landscape over the course of the next decade.

Endnotes

1 Edward Steere, “Shrines of the Honored Dead” (Washington, D. C.: Department of the Army, Office of the 

Quartermaster General, c.1954), 3; Monro MacCloskey, Hallowed Ground: Our National Cemeteries (New York: Richards 

Rosen Press, 1968), 18-20.

2 Quoted in Steere, 1.

3 MacCloskey, 24.

4 Herbert Olsen, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery History” (Unpublished report prepared for the National Park Service, 

31 May 1954), 3-6; Therese Sammartino, “National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, 

Civil War Era National Cemeteries” (United States Department of Veterans Affairs, 1994), Section E, pages 2-4, 6.

5 Catherine Zipf, “Marking Union Victory in the South, The Construction of the National Cemetery System,” in Cynthia 

Mills and Pamela H. Simpson, editors, Monuments to the Lost Cause: Women, Art, and the Landscapes of Southern Memory 

(Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2003), 29.
51 

6 U.S. Statutes at Large, XIV, 353, quoted in Olsen, 9-10.

7 Sammartino, Section E, pages 2-4; MacCloskey, 24, 35.

8 Sammartino, Section E, page 11.

9 United States War Department, Quartermaster General’s Office. Annual Reports of the Quartermaster-General from 1861 

to 1866 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880), 222-223.

10 Steere, 16.

11 Olsen, 13-16.

12 Olsen, 17.

13 Letter, Brigadier General J. J. Dana to Lt. Colonel J. M. Moore, 30 April 1866, quoted in Olsen, 18.

14 Letter, Lt. Col. James Moore to Major General M. C. Meigs, 12 June 1866, RG 92, Records of the Quartermaster 

General, Entry 576, Poplar Grove National Cemetery Records, National Archives I, Washington, D.C. [hereafter, “Poplar 

Grove Records, NARA I”], box 57. 

15 Olsen, 27; “Inspection Report of National Cemeteries in the Dept. of Va. By Bvt. [Brevet]. Maj. Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, 

June 10, 1867,” RG 92, Entry 648, Inspection Report of National Cemeteries in Virginia, National Archives I, Washington, 

D. C. [hereafter, “Inspector General Records, NARA I”]. In this report, Thomas states: “This chapel [Poplar Grove Church] 

and the small groves of pines in which it is situated may have fixed the site—Also the final conflict took place near the 

position, the capture of the Rebel work Fort Greg, which caused the Retreat of Gen’l Lee. I should have selected a position 

on the right-of the line over-looking the city—where the ground is more undulating, say at Fort Stedman, or Morton, or 

Friends House, the Hd Quarters of Major Gen’l Meade...”

16 G. H. Thomas, C. E., “Land Plan of U.S. Nat. Cemetery at Poplar Grove Va.” and “Plan of the Locality of U.S. Nat. 

Cemetery at Poplar Grove Va., (Quartermaster’s Office, c.1866), Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57. In Moore’s letter 

to Meigs of June 12, 1866, he states that prior to his receipt of Mr. Colfax’s letter dated May 21, 1866, “...a site had already 

been selected by me at Poplar Grove, and the work of removing bodies to same had commenced.”

17 No accompanying report or cost estimates were located along with the two survey maps in the Poplar Grove Records at 

NARA I.

18 The bronze shield on the gun monument lists the establishment of the cemetery as June 18, 1866. The date of June 1, 

1866 cited as the beginning of work on the cemetery is taken from Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867. Lieutenant 

Colonel Moore’s reference to burials having commenced by May 21, 1866 may not reflect the official beginning of the 

cemetery and institution of the burial corps, but most likely reflects some initial work at bringing bodies to the site of Poplar 

Grove. 

19 Lieutenant Colonel James Moore, “Consolidated Monthly Report of Progress Made on the National Cemeteries in the 

1st Military District of Virginia,” December 1868, Inspector General records, NARA I, box 1.

20 Zipf, 30.

21 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “History of Government Furnished Headstones and Markers,” Burials & 

Memorials website, http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hist/hmhist.asp (accessed 29 September 2006).

22 Blanche Linden-Ward, “Cemeteries,” in William H. Tishler, editor, American Landscape Architecture: Designers and 

Places (Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1989), 121-122; Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Landscape 

Design: A Cultural and Architectural History (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001), 334-336.

23 Linden-Ward, 121.

24 Linden-Ward, 121-122.

25 National Park Service, “Gettysburg National Military Park Virtual Tour—The National Cemetery,” online article 

at www.nps.gov/gett/getttour/tstops/tstd4-23.htm. Gettysburg, as with several of the first national cemeteries, was not 

Site History, 1866-1869
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

52

developed by the War Department but was rather a joint effort by numerous states and private citizens. It was initially called 

the Soldier’s National Cemetery and was incorporated into the National Cemetery System in 1872.

26 “National Cemeteries,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, vol. 33, issue 195, August 1866, 314.

27 “Circle” in “Glossary of Victorian Cemetery Symbolism, “Rochester’s History: An Illustrated Timeline” webpage, 

http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-tl/pages/Cem_Symbolism.html; MacCloskey, 30. Only the national cemetery at 

Chattanooga, Tennessee (1863) did not incorporate a geometric plan for its burial plots, instead relying on an overall 

picturesque and informal arrangement more typical of civilian “rural” cemeteries.

28 Antietam National Battlefield, “Ranger Notebook: Antietam National Cemetery,” http://www.nps/gov/archive/anti/

cemetary.htm.

29 United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Facilities Management website, pages for individual national cemeteries, 

www.cem.va.gov/nchp; War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General, Regulations for the Government of National 

Cemeteries (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1911), 3-4. Some of the cemeteries, such as Hampton 

(originally four acres, later expanded to twenty-seven acres), were raised in classification due to expansion in late 19th and 

early 20th centuries. 

30 T. R. Rives, “Map of Dinwiddie County VA 1878,” (traced by F. M. Lundahl, 1935), republished in Richard L. Jones, 

Dinwiddie County: Carrefour of the Commonwealth (Dinwiddie, Virginia: Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors, 1976), 

inside back cover.

31 Superintendent Arthur Miller wrote in February 1868 regarding available space for burials: “...I found, that room 

can be made for 140 additional Graves, exclusive of the vacant space in front of the Church.” Arthur Miller to Lieutenant 

Colonel James Moore, 14 February 1868, transcription of Poplar Grove archives at Petersburg National Battlefield by park 

ranger Betsy Dinger [hereafter, “POGR database”].

32 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867.

33 Superintendent Arthur Miller to Brevet Major General D. H. Rucker, Assistant Quartermaster General, 29 February 

1868, POGR database.

34 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867. 

35 No documentation was found on why the short drives were added between sections d and e, and c and g in Division C.

36 A full account of the work of the burial corps is found in Olsen, 27-40.

37 Jennie Friend Stephenson, “My Father’s Household, Before, During and After the War,” unpublished manuscript, 

Petersburg National Battlefield library. 

38 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867; Olsen, 28. 

39 Superintendent Arthur Miller reported trouble in establishing grass beneath “Pine-trees,” suggesting that these 

were mature pines. Arthur Miller to Quartermaster General U.S.A., 27 May 1869, POGR database. There is no detailed 

topographic survey available of the cemetery (most detailed are ten-foot contours on U.S.G.S. quadrangle maps). The 

existence of the ravines extending into the cemetery is illustrated on the c.1866 Quartermaster General survey, “Plan of the 

Locality of U.S. National Cemetery at Poplar Grove” (see fig. 1.23). A Quartermaster survey of the cemetery made in 1892 

noted that the maximum difference in elevation was approximately fifteen feet. 

40 There is some disagreement on the beginning of burials within the cemetery. June 18, 1866 is the date given as the 

establishment of the cemetery on the gun monument bronze plaque containing the burial tally as of 1869. Olsen, in 

Appendix 1, 69, gives July 18, 1866 as the beginning of the “recovery and reinterment program,” although recovery had 

probably begun well before then. In its annual report for the period ending June 30, 1866, the Office of the Quartermaster 

General did not list Poplar Grove as one of the cemeteries in the Virginia District (Washington Depot) as having 

commenced. Annual Reports of the Quartermaster-General from 1861 to 1866, 222-223, 242. This may have been an 

oversight.

41 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867; Superintendent August Miller, “History of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery, 24 April 1871, POGR database.
53 

Site History, 1866-1869

42 Records compiled by Betsy Dinger, Park Ranger, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery Program” (Unpublished 

interpretive presentation transcript, c.2004), Petersburg National Battlefield. 

43 Olsen, 77.

44 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867. In one instance, the sod was taken without the consent of the property 

owner. See James Lufsey, Petersburg, to General Lorenzo Thomas, Inspector of Cemeteries, 13 January 1868, Poplar Grove 

Records, NARA I, box 57. Lufsey wrote asking for compensation: “When the National Cemetery at this place was being 

completed Mr Clarke the Supt [probably not a superintendent] procured turf from my land for the purpose of turfing the 

graves...” Lieutenant Colonel James Moore wrote to Major General D. H. Rucker about this: “The premises of claimant 

are situated in the suburbs of Petersburg, Va., they are not enclosed or improved—in fact more a common. Some sod was 

taken therefrom but only in small quantities...The turf was used to sod the graves in the Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 

In all other instances the small quantity required for [cemetery?] purposes, has been cheerfully furnished by different 

parties...”

45 Superintendent August Miller to Brevet Major General D. H. Rucker, 29 February 1868, POGR database. No 

photographs of the headboards have been found.

46 Poplar Grove burial register, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 58.

47 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867.

48 Olsen, 30.

49 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867; Moore, “Consolidated Monthly Report of Progress Made on the National 

Cemeteries in the 1st Military District of Virginia,” December 1868; Olsen, 27.

50 Descriptive record of August Miller submitted to Henry Hodges, 16 February 1871, POGR database. The acting 

superintendent of the burial corps was to remain in charge of Poplar Grove until the cemetery was deemed officially 

complete by meeting the requirements of the Act of February 22, 1867. Miller to Major General D. H. Rucker, Acting 

Quartermaster General, 31 August 1867, POGR database.

51 August Miller to Lieutenant Colonel James Moore, 15 October 1867, POGR database; August Miller to Major General 

Lorenzo Thomas, 31 March 1869, POGR database; August Miller to Colonel J. G. Chandler, 27 May 1869, POGR database. 

Miller also served as clerk to the superintendent of the burial corps, keeping the burial record, and making weekly and 

monthly reports.

52 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867; August Miller to Lieutenant Colonel James Moore, 15 October 1867; 

August Miller to Major General D. H. Rucker, 29 February 1868; August Miller to Captain Carling, 28 August 1871, 

POGR database. No drawings, photographs, or specifications for these brick gutters have been found. They were buried 

in 1878 and remain at least in part today, as found in 2003 during excavation work (NPS historian Jimmy Blankenship, 

communication to author, June 5, 2006).

53 Miller was probably following the recommendation made by Major General Lorenzo Thomas in his June 10, 1867 

inspection report, in which he recommended that the cemetery be expanded on the south side by one acre to accommodate 

a lodge. Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867; August Miller to Lieutenant Colonel A. P. Blunt, 22 August 1867, 

POGR database; Miller to Rucker, 31 August 1867.

54 Miller to Rucker, 31 August 1867; Miller to Chandler, 27 May 1869; August Miller to Quartermaster General, 30 

September 1869, POGR database. 

55 Olsen, 36-37. The infant heirs were James T. Flower, Archibald Flower, and Joseph Flower, represented by George 

Vickers, guardian.

56 This new parcel added a 101-foot by 92-foot rectangular area to the north of the approach road, and a 110-foot by 238-

foot rectangular area to the south.

57 Olsen, 36-37; copy of deed, 90-91; Lieutenant General James Moore to Major General D. A. Rucker, 18 March 1868, 

Poplar Grove Records, NARA I ; United States War Department, Military Reservations, National Cemeteries and Military 

Parks Title Jurisdiction Etc.” (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, Revised Edition, 1916), 433-434. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

54

58 Charles Pickett, National Cemetery, Poplar Grove, to M. L. Higgins, Chief Clerk Quartermaster Department, 12 May 

1869, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I. Pickett, apparently a cemetery employee, wrote: “I would respectfully state that 

I have been to Dinwiddie Court House, and have ascertained the following facts in reference to land purchased for this 

Cemetery. Viz: A deed has been duly recorded, which specifies that eight (8) acres and 13/100 has been purchased and the 

sum of fifteen hundred dollars has been paid for the same, which includes the additional acre recently surveyed and gives 

a “right of way” 30 feet in width-extending to the main road.” The deed, as transcribed in Olsen (90-91) does not include 

reference to the right-of-way.

59 August Miller to Major General D. H. Rucker, 29 February 1868, POGR database; Miller to Lieutenant Colonel James 

M. Moore, 9 March 1868, POGR database.

60 Miller to Moore, 15 October 1867.

61 Miller to Rucker, 29 February 1868.

62 Olsen, 37, 80. The graves at the site of the church in Division C were filled at some point between April 28 and June 30, 

1869. These graves included all of sections a and b, plus seven graves in each row along the eastern edge of section c and the 

western edge of section d. This area in sections c and d had apparently served as a broad walk extending to the rear of the 

church. The walk was subsequently filled with burials at an undetermined date.

63 “The Right Hand of Fellowship—The Fruits of the Reconciliation Policy, as Exhibited at Poplar Grove Cemetery 

Yesterday,” Petersburg Daily Post, 10 July 1877, page 1, column 2. This article, written on the occasion of a ceremony 

marking the installation of headstones, stated: “The chapel was taken down and carried to Central Park, New York, where 

it was for some time exhibited as a curiosity and relic of war.”

64 Moore, “Consolidated Monthly Report of Progress Made on the National Cemeteries in the 1st Military District of 

Virginia,” December 1868. This report listed 35 employees at the cemetery.

65 August Miller to Major General Lorenzo Thomas, 31 March 1869, POGR database.

66 Olsen, 29-31; Miller to Thomas, 31 March 1869; August Miller to Colonel J. G. Chandler, 27 May 1869, POGR database; 

August Miller to Adjunct General U.S.A., 30 June 1869, POGR database.

67 Miller to Thomas, 31 March 1869; Olsen, 38; August Miller to Colonel J. G. Chandler, 27 May 1869, POGR database.

68 Miller to Adjunct General, 30 June 1869.

69 August Miller to Major General Lorenzo Thomas, 31 March 1869 and 30 April 1869, POGR database; August Miller to 

Quartermaster General U.S.A., 31 August 1869, POGR database. No documentation was found on the location of the tube 

well.

70 Miller to Thomas, 31 March 1869; Miller to Chandler, 27 May 1869.

71 Olsen, 30-31, 39.

72 August Miller to Adjunct General U.S.A., 31 July 1869, POGR database; Miller letter of 30 November 1869, POGR 

database. Miller noted in this last letter that “...old Army log cabins opposite the lodge were taken down and the ground 

leveled.”

73 Thomas, “Inspection Report,” June 10, 1867. Thomas had specified “iron blocks,” the type of grave marker initially 

stipulated by General Montgomery Meigs for National Cemeteries.
160

170

160

170

170 Vaughan Road

Field

Field

20’ right-of-way

through private property

(not recorded in final deed)

matchline

Location of Flower 

farmhouse

& barns

Approach Road

Flower Farm

To Vaughan Road

Field

Site of Poplar

Grove Church

(removed 1868)

One-acre expansion

(1868)

Wood flagstaff 

(1866)

White-painted wood 

headboards (1866-1869)

Most graves mounded

6’ high flagstaff 

mound (c.1866)

See INSET

INSET

matchline

Site of possible relocated

building from engineers’ camp

(Probably removed by 1869)

Sites of possible relocated

buildings from engineers’ camp

Gun monument (typ.)

(1869)

Brick gutters 

along edges of 

drives (1867)

Most camp buildings 

removed prior to 

July 1866

Gum tree

boundary marker

Frame lodge

(1867)

Log barracks from

engineers’ camp

(exact location and

number not known)

Loblolly pine woods

Ditch (c.1869)

Flower Farm 

Wood paling fence

(1866)

Flower Farm 

Flower Farm 

Flower Farm 

Burials in Division F

awaiting headboards

Rebecca Flower, and James T. Flower,

Archibald Flower, and Joseph Flower,

infants, with George Vickers their guardian,

to United States, 8.13 acres

April 3, 1868

Farley Farm 

(probably removed by 1869)

Loblolly pine

thinned from

woods

170

160

170

170

Main gate

Empty rows 

(reason not known)

0’ 150’ 300’

Loblolly pine woods

Loblolly pine woods

Loblolly pine woods

Site of possible relocated

building from engineers’ camp

(Probably removed by 1869)

A-a A-b

A-d A-c

A-e

A-f

B-a

B-b

B-c

B-d

B-e

B-f

B-g

B-h

C-b C-a

C-c C-d

C-e

C-f

C-g

C-h

D-a

D-b

D-c

D-d

D-f

D-e

D-g

E

F

Drawing 1.2

NOTES

B-g

Removed during period

Property line

Grave markers 

Cemetery division-section 

Building

Road 

Road with brick gutters

Gun monument

Fence

Conifer tree (loblolly pine, approx.) 

Lawn

10' contour 

Wetland 

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Establishment Period

1866-1869

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

SOURCES

1. PETE GIS Data

2. Thomas, Plan of Poplar Grove Nat. Cemetery, c.1866

3. Burial location plan, NPS, c.1970

LEGEND

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter, Illustrator CS3, 2009

0’ 25’ 50’ 75’ 100’

1. Plan represents landscape conditions in 1869 at end of 

the work of the burial corps, showing features removed 

during the period by dashed lines. 

2. Dashed lines on existing features indicates approximate 

scale, location.

3. Locations of willows, cedars, and flowerbeds added 

during the period are not known.

4. All features shown in approximate scale and location. 

Location of brick gutters and gravel surfaces based on 

assumption of drive locations.

57 

Site History, 1869-1933

War department period, 1869-1933

By the time the Poplar Grove burial corps was officially disbanded on June 30, 

1869, most of the burial space in the cemetery had been filled, completing the plan 

for the cemetery laid out three years earlier. During the ensuing seven decades 

of War Department administration, there were sixty additional burials from later 

wars due to expanded eligibility. These later burials amounted to roughly one 

percent of all graves, leaving Poplar Grove a predominantly Civil War cemetery.1

The landscape of the cemetery, although fixed in overall plan, was considerably 

improved in the years after 1869 in keeping with the War Department’s 

changing regulations for national cemeteries. In general, these regulations 

led to a standardized landscape that accommodated local materials and 

growing conditions, and minimized maintenance through an overall simplified 

scheme. The 1870s through the early 1880s were a time of development and 

beautification at Poplar Grove, corresponding with relatively high visitation 

and increased funding for capital improvements. After this time into the latter 

1920s, Poplar Grove entered a sleepy period in which visitation declined and few 

improvements were made to the landscape. Unlike other 

national cemeteries in Virginia such as Cold Harbor and 

Culpeper, Poplar Grove did not receive any commemorative 

monuments from states or societies. In the latter 1920s, 

following the establishment of Petersburg National 

Military Park in 1926, visitation to Poplar Grove began 

to rise and the War Department undertook a program of 

improvements. During this time of renewed activity, the 

federal government transferred administration of Poplar 

Grove to the Department of the Interior’s National Park 

Service in August 1933. 

Throughout its history under the War Department, Poplar 

Grove remained a relatively remote place set in the midst 

of a rural district of farm fields and pine woods with little 

surrounding development (fig. 1.37). The Flower family 

owned the farm that surrounded the cemetery on three 

sides through the 1870s, and thereafter it passed to the 

Blaha family, who occupied a new farmstead on the east side 

of Vaughan Road, southwest of the cemetery. Throughout 

this period, the cemetery was visible from Vaughan Road 

across farm fields, with the flagstaff rising above the tree 

canopy, framed in the background by woods of loblolly pine 

that extended east to the old Petersburg & Weldon Railroad 

Figure 1.37: Map of Dinwiddie 

County (1878) showing rural 

context of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery, adjoining the Flower 

farm along Vaughan Road. 

(Detail of map redrawn in Richard 

L. Jones, Dinwiddie County: 

Carrefour of the Commonwealth, 

1976, annotated by SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

58

and Halifax Road. The limits of the City of Petersburg, which saw little growth 

from its pre-Civil War prosperity until the early twentieth century, remained well 

to the north. 2 

For years after the war, the devastation from the Civil War remained a conspicuous 

part of the landscape surrounding Poplar Grove, along with the Union forts and 

lines of fortifications. These relics moved cemetery Superintendent August Miller 

to include them in a description of the cemetery he wrote in 1871: “...The most 

elevated points in the vicinity have been strongly fortified with Earthworks, some 

of these works are still in a good state of preservation, and give the land a martial 

and somewhat picturesque appearance; from the center of the Cemetery can be 

see Forts Clark, Dushane [to the south], Wadsworth, Keene, Tracy [to the north 

and west] Emory and Seibert [to the southwest]...” (see fig. 1.10).3

 As the fields 

were returned to active agriculture and pine forests regenerated elsewhere on the 

war-torn landscape, the views to these fortifications became obscurred. 

Development and beautification, 1869-1882

During the 1870s and into the early 1880s, the War Department refined the Poplar 

Grove landscape with the addition of a new lodge, perimeter walls, entrance gates, 

marble grave markers, benches, interpretive plaques, and plantings of specimen 

trees, shrubs, and flowerbeds. The Act of February 22, 1867, passed while many 

cemeteries including Poplar Grove were still busy with battlefield recovery and 

burials, outlined a number of specific improvements, but these generally were not 

implemented until the 1870s once the burial work was substantially complete. 

The shift toward improvements in the 1870s was also brought about by the 

deterioration of the initial wooden features such as fences and headboards, which 

warranted rebuilding in more durable materials. Improvements also became 

increasingly necessary with the growing commemorative function of the national 

cemeteries, reflected by the designation of Memorial Day in 1868 and following 

the precedent of Gettysburg National Cemetery with its central commemorative 

monument. 4

 

Congress recognized the need for beautification by setting aside funds in the War 

Department appropriation of 1870 for planting trees and shrubs in each of the 

seventy-three national cemeteries.5

 Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs, 

the head commander of the national cemetery system, recognized that these 

plantings would shape the character of the cemetery landscapes for generations. 

He sought professional advice on the plantings, and in July 1870 contacted 

noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, best know for his design of 

Central Park in New York City. Olmsted, unable to offer specific detail due to the 

varied nature of the national cemeteries, advised Meigs on a general design that 

avoided ornamental gardening then popular in Victorian landscapes. Reflecting 
59 

Site History, 1869-1933

his hallmark approach to design, Olmsted instead recommended that plantings 

emphasize the overall landscape effect, with a grove of trees providing the 

fundamental character to the landscape: 

I would recommend that it (the general design) should be studiously 

simple...The main object should be to establish permanent dignity and 

tranquility. Looking forward several generations, the greater part of all 

that is artificial at present in the cemeteries must be expected to have either 

wholly disappeared or to have become inconspicuous and unimportant in 

the general landscape...This then is what I would recommend to be aimed 

at:--A sacred grove, sacredness and (protection) being expressed in the 

enclosing wall and in the perfect tranquility of the trees within.6

In his reference to all that was then “artificial” in the cemeteries, Olmsted was 

referring to features such as ornamental flower beds, clipped shrubs, fence 

enclosures, mounds, and even grave markers. Foreshadowing subsequent 

maintenance and cost issues at Poplar Grove, Olmsted also recommended 

replacing lawn with cover of trees and shrubs; planting of indigenous trees using 

saplings transplanted from surrounding woods; avoiding fast-growing weak trees, 

including poplars, European linden, silver maple, balsam fir, and American and 

Chinese arborvitae; and establishing a nursery for the replacement of trees.7

The essence of Olmsted’s recommendations, for an overall informal and simple 

arrangement of specimen trees as a sacred grove within the cemetery inclosure, 

was adopted at many national cemeteries, including Poplar Grove. Despite his 

advice against artificial ornament, however, the beautification and development 

undertaken throughout the system during the 1870s maintained lawn and upright 

grave markers as conspicuous parts of the landscape, along with scattered but 

generally not prolific use of ornamental flowerbeds and clipped shrubs. 8

Administration and Use

In the post Civil War years, administration of the national cemeteries remained 

under the Office of the Quartermaster General, with direct oversight maintained 

by its regional offices. During the 1870s and 1880s, Poplar Grove was administered 

through the Quartermaster’s Washington (D. C.) Depot, with large construction 

projects handled through the Philadelphia Depot.9

 The cemetery superintendent 

was required to submit to the Quartermaster General regular reports on 

burials, the condition of the cemetery buildings and landscape, and the need 

for improvements. Poplar Grove, along with all other national cemeteries, was 

inspected on a biannual basis by the Office of the Inspector General, established 

in the War Department by an act of 1813. In the early years of the cemetery, 

inspectors wrote informal reports remarking on the condition of buildings, 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

60

roads, vegetation, and grave markers; staffing and funding issues; and the need for 

improvements. 

Regular employees under Superintendent Miller dropped from his initial five in 

1867 to two by the summer of 1870. Miller reported: “In regard to the employees 

under my charge, I have two good (colored) laborers at work in the cemetery, 

to keep the grounds in order.”10 Through the remainder of this period, the 

superintendent generally had one permanent assistant, known as a gardener, 

and often two additional staff hired during busy times, mostly in the spring 

and fall. Additional laborers and trades people, such as carpenters and masons, 

were brought in under contract as needed, while Quartermaster engineers and 

other professionals from various offices, such as the Philadelphia Depot and 

Fort Monroe, Virginia, were involved in drafting plans and inspecting cemetery 

conditions. 

Miller remained superintendent until 1876, when he was replaced for health 

reasons by H. C. Lacy, who remained in the position until 1890. 11 The 

superintendents lived with their families in the cemetery lodge. Due to the remote 

location far from stores, the superintendents maintained a hedge-enclosed garden 

plot and chicken yard outside of cemetery gate, on the north side of the entrance 

drive (current site of parking lot), apparently with the consent of the Flower and 

later Blaha families who owned the property.12

During its early years, Poplar Grove National Cemetery received “a large number 

of visitors,” according to Superintendent Miller, probably mostly Northerners 

searching for the graves of their family and friends.13 Decoration Day (Memorial 

Day) became the main public occasion at the cemetery, a date that generally saw 

the greatest visitation and the best level of maintenance in the landscape. May 

30th was officially designated as Decoration Day in 1868 through General Orders 

No. 11 of the Grand Army of the Republic. The order called for “strewing with 

flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of 

their country (during the late rebellion)...”14 It was not until 1871, however, that 

Poplar Grove had its first Decoration Day ceremony. The people of Petersburg 

organized this ceremony for May 31, 1871, and a special train was run on the 

Petersburg & Weldon Railroad to shorten the five-mile trip to the cemetery. 

The Petersburg Daily Courier reported that the ceremony was attended by a 

large crowd of approximately 1,500 people: “...white and colored assembled...

to join in the ceremony of decorating the graves of the federal soldiers buried 

at that place...Under the direction of the committee of arrangements, flowers 

were distributed upon the graves, and (flagstaff) mound and gateways were 

appropriately decorated...” 15 Decoration Day ceremonies were apparently 

held at Poplar Grove throughout the 1870s, such as one in 1875 in which it was 
61 

Site History, 1869-1933

reported that the visitors were “quite numerous, and flowers and evergreens 

plentiful.” 16

Building of the New Lodge and Service Yard

In the summer and fall of 1869 after the burial corps disbanded, Superintendent 

Miller oversaw a number of immediate improvements to the landscape. One area 

requiring substantial work was the one-acre addition. In July, Miller reported 

to Quartermaster General Meigs: “The new Section (Division F), in which the 

late interments have been made, has been left in an unfinished state. The ground 

needs grading; and two hundred and sixty seven (267) Graves, have no mounds 

made, nor are they marked with Head Boards. Also Forty five Graves are not 

filled. Three Carpenters are now at work, in putting up a Fence around the lately 

added grounds.”17 By November 1869, the old log barracks remaining from the 

engineers’ camp south of the main drive were taken down and the ground leveled, 

and Miller built a frame tool shed north of the drive.18

Soon after this time, plans were underway for building a new lodge in the oneacre addition, as Miller had earlier recommended. Although the frame lodge was 

only a few years old, Miller was reporting that it was too small for his family, and 

that it leaked and was cold in the winter. Fortunately for Miller, Quartermaster 

General Montgomery Meigs, who was an architect and engineer best known for 

his work on the dome and extension of the United States Capitol, was developing 

plans for substantial stone lodges to be built at each national 

cemetery. Meigs’ prototype, first produced in 1870, was for 

a small, one and one-half story building in the fashionable 

Second Empire Style. A second version Meigs produced in 

1871 featured quarry-faced ashlar stone walls, a polychrome 

slate Mansard (French) roof, pedimented dormers, a front 

porch, and casement windows (fig. 1.38). 19 The building 

style, contemporary and characteristically urban, stood in 

stark contrast to the Gothic and Egyptian Revival styles 

popular in rural cemeteries prior to the war. Meigs-designed 

lodges were built, with modifications, at most of the national 

cemeteries in the Virginia district under the supervision of 

Lieutenant Colonel James M. Moore, the first built in 1870 

at Richmond and Cold Harbor, and the last completed 

at Seven Pines in 1874.20 The lodge at City Point near 

Petersburg, built in 1871, was typical of the modifications 

to the Meigs prototype, with double-hung sash, a 

monochrome slate roof, and slightly different proportions 

(fig. 1.39). As with all lodges, the City Point building was 

Figure 1.38: Prototype of 

a national cemetery lodge 

designed by Quartermaster 

General Montgomery Meigs, 

from a version dated August 17, 

1871. (National Archives, from 

U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs Facilities Management 

website, http://www.va.gov/

facmgt/historic/Meigs.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

62

located at the main entrance to the 

cemetery, inside the inclosure fence or 

wall.

On May 27, 1870, the Office of the 

Quartermaster General selected plans 

for the new lodge at Poplar Grove, 

using the same plan for a brick lodge 

then being constructed at Richmond 

National Cemetery. Three days later, 

an advertisement was issued seeking 

construction bids for Poplar Grove, and 

on August 16, 1870, papers were signed 

awarding the contract to James R. 

Dobbyn and requiring construction to 

be completed by October 31, 1870. The site selected for the lodge was in the oneacre addition on the north side of the main drive adjacent to the frame lodge. By 

August 31, 1870, Dobbyn commenced work on the project, but within a short time 

defaulted on the project, leaving a cellar hole, mounded earth, and lumber.21 In 

April 1871, the Quartermaster’s office advertised for new bids using the same plan. 

The low bid for the plan as specified, using brick, came in at $2,892.00, but a bid by 

Kyran A. Murphy substituted stone for brick at a lower cost of $2,700.00. Murphy 

was most likely working at the time on the new lodge at City Point National 

Cemetery, which used the same stone (see fig. 1.39). Because of Murphy’s low bid, 

he was awarded the contract for Poplar Grove and plans were changed to stone.22

On August 3, Stark Frank, an agent with the Quartermaster’s office, inspected the 

existing cellar hole, which had filled with water, and determined that the lodge 

should be instead built on the opposite side of 

the entrance drive (fig. 1.40). 

On October 24, 1871, Murphy began 

construction of the stone lodge, and by the end 

of the year, had substantially completed the 

work.23 The lodge featured the standard Meigs 

plan, with a concave mansard roof sheathed 

Figure 1.39: The main entrance 

to City Point National Cemetery, 

a second-class cemetery, showing 

Meigs-style lodge built in 1871, 

photographed 1902. Also note the 

stone wall and iron gates (c.1875), 

gun monuments (c.1869), lattice 

well house (c.1871, to right of 

lodge), and iron tablets (c.1882). 

(Records of the Quartermaster 

General, RG 92, Still Pictures 

Division, National Archives II.) 

Figure 1.40: Sketch made in August 1871 for the site 

of the new stone lodge, showing “present cellar” 

on opposite side of the entrance drive (main walk) 

that was begun the year before. Also shown is the 

“Present frame lodge” above (east of) the cellar hole. 

The location of the fence and drive at the top of the 

drawing are not accurate. (Records of the Quartermaster 

General, Entry 576, Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

Records, box 57, National Archives I.)
63 

Site History, 1869-1933

in diamond-shaped monochrome gray slate, six-over-six 

double-hung sash windows, a front porch with simple 

squared posts, overhanging eaves ornamented by dentils, 

and rough-faced ashlar with varying shades of grays 

and browns (fig. 1.41). Work on finishing the interior 

lasted into the spring, and in April 1872, Miller moved 

into the lodge. Soon after this, he moved the old frame 

lodge to the rear of the new lodge for use as a kitchen and 

storage room.24 The grounds surrounding the lodge were 

probably improved soon after the building’s completion. 

Chief among these was the addition of a circular turnaround measuring ninety feet across, with a planted 

island and a straight east side that aligned with the grave rows in Division F. The 

turn-around was most likely intended for parking carriages that did not enter the 

cemetery proper, and probably also as a public gathering area. A walk branched 

off the south side of the circle, passing the rear and west sides of the lodge.

The grounds across the main drive from the lodge, where the original cellar hole 

was located, were developed into the cemetery’s service yard, initially known as 

the wood yard. Here, the cemetery horse (used for lawn mowing) was stabled, 

and fuel wood, building materials, and equipment, such as lawn mowers, scythes, 

and wheelbarrows, were kept. The first structure in the yard was probably the 

toolshed built by Superintendent Miller in 1869, followed by a twenty-foot deep 

well with a lattice well house and pump, probably built together with the lodge 

in 1871. This well house was most likely the same design as the one built at City 

Point National Cemetery—a square structure with a pyramidal hipped roof and 

arched openings (see fig. 1.39). In 1873, a frame building known as the tool house, 

with stable and privy under one roof, was constructed in the yard, and additional 

small shacks were also added over the years. Shortly 

after the addition of the tool house (also known as 

the barn), the service yard was screened off from the 

rest of the cemetery by a six-foot high wooden lattice 

fence, inside of which was planted a boxwood hedge. 

In 1879, the numerous wooden buildings in the service 

yard were replaced with a three-bay brick tool house 

with an open central bay flanked by sets of swinging 

doors, and a privy at the side (fig. 1.42). Apparently the 

feed room in the new tool house was not adequate, and 

Superintendent Miller built a frame forage shed at the 

rear, probably out of materials salvaged from the old 

service buildings. 25

Figure 1.41: The Poplar Grove 

lodge, built in 1871-1872, view of 

the front façade looking southeast 

from a recent photograph (2006). 

The building historically had dark 

trim and a monochrome slate roof 

with diamond-shaped slates. The 

tablet affixed to the building, 

installed in c.1913, contains 

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Figure 1.42: Diagram showing the 

layout of the Poplar Grove service 

area by 1880. The location of the 

earlier (pre-1879) frame sheds is 

not known. (SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

64

Inclosure Wall and Boundary Adjustment

About the same time that Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs developed 

plans for cemetery lodges, he was also working on plans for perimeter walls. The 

Act of February 22, 1867 had specified that all national cemeteries be enclosed 

by a perimeter fence, known as an inclosure, made either of iron or masonry. The 

legislation called for these iron or stone fences for symbolic reasons, as well as for 

the practical function of keeping out livestock from adjoining farms. In addition, 

the iron and stone fences were envisioned as an improvement over the old wood 

paling fences, which required continual repair and painting, and were subject to 

breakage from livestock. On August 12, 1870, Meigs filed plans for a prototype 

flat-top stone wall approximately five feet high with dividing pilasters and coping 

stones.26 As with the lodges, the walls as built varied in proportions and materials, 

using either stone, or brick with brick or stone coping. Over the course of the next 

five years, enclosing walls were completed at all Virginia national cemeteries, along 

with iron gates for the main entrances. The larger cemeteries, such as Richmond, 

generally were outfitted with central vehicular gates flanked on both sides by 

smaller gates for pedestrians, while the smaller cemeteries, such as Cold Harbor 

and City Point, had either a single vehicular gate or just one pedestrian gate (fig. 

1.43, see also fig. 1.39). 

While the Quartermaster’s office was developing plans for the inclosure walls, 

it was also planning a system-wide project to enhance the old wood fences by 

planting perimeter hedges of Osage orange. Osage orange (Maclura sp., native 

to Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma), was a very popular hedge plant before the 

advent of wire fences due to its dense habit and spiky thorns.27 On August 29, 

1870, the Quartermaster’s office sent out advertisements soliciting bids for 

“Setting Osage Orange Plants” for national cemeteries in Pennsylvania, New 

Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina.28 Those in Virginia followed soon after. In 

August 1870, Superintendent Miller was providing the Quartermaster’s office with 

total linear footage for the hedge at Poplar Grove—just 

over a half mile. Preparations for planting the Osage 

orange hedge were completed on October 25, 1870 

by eighteen men working a total of thirty-five days 

on digging a trench along the inside of the inclosing 

fence and backfilling it with manure. The contract 

for planting the hedge was awarded to J. E. Bailey of 

Georgetown, District of Columbia, who completed 

the project in early March 1871 after setting out 

4,042 Osage orange saplings. The following month, 

Superintendent Miller reported: “An ‘Osage Orange’ 

hedge has been planted during this Spring, which will 

take the place of the old fence when it commences to 

Figure 1.43: Cold Harbor 

National Cemetery, a typical 

third-class cemetery (1.4 acres) 

photographed 1902, showing 

an inclosure wall executed in 

brick and a single gate. This 

photograph also shows the lodge 

(1870), central entrance drive 

(c.1866), and in the distance, 

the flagstaff and flagstaff 

mound (c.1866). (Records of the 

Quartermaster General, RG 92, 

Still Pictures Division, National 

Archives II.) 
65 

Site History, 1869-1933

decay...”29 Miller apparently did not know that the Quartermaster’s office was 

planning at the time for the eventual placement of the wooden fences with walls. 

Two years after the hedge was planted, the Quartermaster’s office took out 

newspaper advertisements to solicit bids on building the inclosure wall at Poplar 

Grove, together with the wall at Yorktown National Cemetery (fig. 1.44). Plans 

and specifications were developed by the Quartermaster’s office at Fort Monroe, 

Virginia, calling for a brick wall instead of stone as had been specified in the Meigs 

prototype and used at the City Point National Cemetery wall. The Quartermaster’s 

office awarded the bid to B. F. Childrey & Company, which began work on the 

project at Poplar Grove in the fall of 1873 with the production of bricks made in 

two kilns built just outside the cemetery. On December 16, 1873, Mr. Chenoweth, 

a civil engineer with the Quartermaster’s office, reported: “I visited the kiln 

Dec 12, which is adjoining the Cemetery, and found the 

brick of a very inferior character....the kiln contains one 

hundred thousand bricks...No work has yet been done 

on the enclosing [sic] wall.”30 The Quartermaster’s office 

subsequently rejected the work, and Childrey stopped 

the project and tried to sell his contract. The project 

stalled for two years and in the meantime the paling fence 

deteriorated, although it was hidden in part by the Osage 

orange hedge. A cemetery inspection on August 11, 1875—

two years after the wall contract had been awarded—

reported: “...The fence is in very bad condition, having 

to be propped up in many places; this with the dilapidated 

gate and gateway give the Cemetery a very unprepossessing 

appearance as you approach it.”31

It was not until February 1, 1876 that the Quartermaster’s office solicited new bids 

on the Poplar Grove wall that also included the inclosure wall at Seven Pines near 

Richmond (Chenoweth had apparently succeeded in building the brick wall at 

Yorktown National Cemetery under the initial contract).32 In running the lines for 

the new wall at Poplar Grove in February 1876, Oliver Cox, civil engineer with the 

Quartermaster’s office, found that the original survey as recorded in the deed did 

not correspond with the line of the paling fence and boundaries as marked on the 

ground. Cox discovered that the northeast and southwest corners of the cemetery 

were actually not on government land, as shown on a survey he drafted showing 

the boundaries according to the deed and those corresponding with the paling 

fence (fig. 1.45). To rectify the situation, Cox recommended that a ten-foot strip 

be acquired around the actual perimeter of the cemetery to provide a buffer strip 

for the graves (some of which were less than a foot from the fence), for proper 

drainage, and to provide space for an embankment needed for the new wall. 33

Figure 1.44: Quartermaster 

General advertisement in an 

unidentified newspaper soliciting 

bids on the construction of 

inclosure walls at Poplar Grove 

and Yorktown, dated July 16, 1873. 

(Records of the Quartermaster 

General, Entry 576, Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery Records, box 

57, National Archives I.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

66

It would be more than a year before the government 

acquired the ten-foot buffer strip from the adjoining 

property owners, but in the meantime, the Quartermaster’s 

office continued to develop plans for constructing the 

brick inclosure wall. The project also proposed an 

entrance gateway of granite piers and iron gates, with a 

central carriageway flanked by two pedestrian entrances, 

a standard design also used at Fort Harrison National 

Cemetery near Richmond (fig. 1.46). On May 22, 1876, the 

Quartermaster’s office selected a bid by John Brennon and 

Archibald L. Hutton of Washington, with a completion 

date set for October 31, 1876. Specifications were changed 

to substitute Ohio sandstone for brick on the pilaster caps, 

each of which were specified at twenty inches square and 

four- to-five inches thick with hammer-dressed sides, for the 

additional cost of $400. Total cost for the project amounted 

to $10,187.34

Brennon and Hutton began work on the wall in June 1876, 

using new bricks made in Alexandria, Virginia. James Gall, 

the Quartermaster civil engineer responsible for on-site 

supervision of the project, reported that the wall and entrance gates had been 

completed by September 20, 1876: 

The wall is well built, of the correct materials, and presents a very good 

appearance. The stone caps at the pilasters give strength and protection 

to the work and improve the general appearance of the wall. The gate 

Figure 1.45: Survey of Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery made 

in February 1876 showing 

discrepancy between boundaries 

plotted in the original deed (dark 

line), and the actual boundary 

represented by the perimeter 

fence (lighter line). (Records 

of the Quartermaster General, 

Entry 576, Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery Records, box 57, 

National Archives I.)

Figure 1.46: The granite and iron 

entrance gate at Fort Harrison National 

Cemetery near Richmond, installed 

in c.1876 and photographed in 1902. 

The same style gate was built at 

Poplar Grove in 1876. (Records of the 

Quartermaster General, RG 92, Still 

Pictures Division, National Archives II.)
67 

Site History, 1869-1933

parts are of good granite neatly cut and well set and the gates are strong...

The ground on both sides of the wall has been graded to conform with the 

ground line of the wall at all points, thus giving the entire wall a uniform 

height of four feet six inches (4’ 6”) above the surface. Care has been taken 

to provide drainage outlets at all proper points, and to grade the ground in 

their vicinity as to permit discharge of all surface water from the cemetery 

grounds.35

The spring following the completion of the wall, the Quartermaster Attorney 

General endorsed the addition of the buffer strip around the perimeter of Poplar 

Grove. The addition was not a continuous ten-foot strip, but rather an overlay on 

the existing survey (in two places, the deeded survey extended beyond ten feet of 

the perimeter wall). The delay in progressing the acquisition was purportedly due 

to ownership by minors on both the Flower and Farley farms. On April 30, 1877, 

two deeds, one for the Farley property, consisting of 0.919 of an acre (strip along 

the south boundary), and the other for the Flower property, consisting of 0.5019 

of an acre (strips along east, north, and west boundaries) were signed by J. Wesley 

Friend, Special Commissioner acting on behalf of the Farley and Flower families, 

and the United States. The Flower purchase also provided the government with 

a right-of-way of unspecified width along the approach road, something that 

had been left out of the original 1868 deed. On May 14, 1877, the Quartermaster 

Attorney General reported, “...the Govt. has deed for all the land enclosed for 

cemetery purposes, together with the right of way thereonwhich through some 

oversight, has not heretofore been secured.”36

With the wall complete and the property boundaries corrected, there still 

remained many refuse bricks outside of the cemetery left from the first contractor. 

Superintendent Lacy, who was appointed soon after the wall was completed in 

1876, made plans to use at least some of these bricks for a new kitchen. In 1879, he 

was granted authority to remove the wooden kitchen at the rear of the lodge—the 

old frame lodge that Superintendent Miller had moved. At his own expense, Lacy 

built the new kitchen out of the refuse bricks, set back from the lodge near the 

inclosure wall. 37 The new toolshed in the service yard, built in 1879, was probably 

also constructed out of the same refuse bricks.

Replacement of the Grave Markers 

At Poplar Grove and nearly every other national cemetery, improvement of the 

grave markers was one of the most pressing issues of the 1870s. The wooden 

headboards were not just a constant maintenance nuisance, requiring continual 

repainting and often replacement due to rot, but were inconsistent with the Act 

of February 22, 1867, which specified that each grave be marked by a “small 

headstone or block.”38 As part of a War Department board of officers charged 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

68

with considering the appropriate headstone design, Quartermaster General 

Montgomery Meigs proposed in 1867 that each grave be marked by a small, 

trapezoidal zinc-plated cast-iron monument placed at the foot of each grave, a 

design that apparently could have been executed within the initial appropriation 

provided by Congress. Meig’s untraditional design proved unpopular, yet he 

continued to press for the zinc monument, delaying a final decision by the War 

Department. Public opinion favored the use of more expensive but traditional 

marble or granite headstones.39 

Congress finally settled the question through passage of the Act of June 8, 1872, 

which amended the Act of February 22, 1867 by specifying that each grave be 

marked by a small headstone, thereby eliminating the use of alternative materials 

such as zinc. Congress appropriated one million dollars for the new headstones, 

specifying that they be of “durable stone,” and thereafter the War Department 

developed specifications, which were finalized in 1873.40 Two specifications were 

developed: one for a small upright headstone for known graves, the other for a 

block—a low square post—for unknown graves. The headstones were specified 

to be polished white marble with a curved top, and an inscription of raised letters 

inside a recessed shield indicating the name, state regiment, and grave number. 

Each headstone measured ten inches wide, four inches thick, and thirty-six inches 

long, with an intended installation height of twelve inches. The white marble 

blocks for the unknown graves only included the grave number inscribed on the 

top surface, and another number noting the number of interments if more than 

one. The blocks measured six inches square and thirty-six inches long, and were 

intended for an above-ground installed height of four inches. While unfashionable 

in high-style cemeteries, the headstones were consistent with the traditional 

uniformity of military wooden headboards, and minimized costs. The selection 

of the block, referenced in the Act of February 22, 1867, was a new type of grave 

marker in military cemeteries, and was probably selected to minimize costs, but 

perhaps also to suggest a feeling of loss or incompletion to the unknown graves. 

The contract to supply the new markers to all national cemeteries, totaling 265,000 

headstones and blocks, was awarded to Captain Samuel G. Bridges in December 

1873. The supplier and finisher for the headstones, made of Vermont marble, 

was Sheldon & Slason of West Rutland, Vermont. The company used the recently 

developed sand-blast method for inscribing the stones.41

While the grave marker project was begun in 1874, it was not until 1877 that 

Captain Bridges got to Poplar Grove, which was the very last of the national 

cemeteries to receive the new markers. Prior to Bridges’ arrival, James Gall, Jr., 

Civil Engineer with the Quartermaster’s office, visited Poplar Grove in June 1877 

to make arrangements and in particular to determine the exact placement of the 

new stones with respect to the graves. He reported: 
69 

Site History, 1869-1933

...On the large circular sections surrounding the flagstaff the headboards 

stand near the center of instead of at the heads of the graves and cannot 

therefore be taken as guides in setting the headstones, and I find it necessary 

in order to have the stones set in solid ground and to avoid placing them on 

or over the coffins, to make thorough tests by digging before establishing the 

head stone lines. This work has been begun to day and the Supt. instructed 

to give close attention to it. 42

The stones for Poplar Grove were shipped to Petersburg on June 28, 1877 as 

reported by the Petersburg Daily Post: “Our wharf [on the Appomattox River] 

now presents a lively appearance. There are twelve schooners now unloading and 

among them are two three masters, one of which came up this morning, drawing 

10 1⁄2 feet of water. She is loaded 

with headstones for the National 

Cemetery, Poplar Grove.”43 The 

next day, Captain Bridges and 

his crew of between 150 and 160 

men began work at the cemetery 

by distributing the stones to each 

grave. In just one week, Bridges 

completed the $15,500 project 

(headstones at $3.39 each, blocks 

at $2.42 each), encompassing 

approximately 2,200 headstones 

and 3,355 blocks. The Petersburg 

Index and Appeal reported that 

the project “...has been done not 

only very quickly but remarkably 

well.”44 The Daily Post reported on the following day: “...The work is of the most 

approved style, and is just such as ought to mark the resting place of these soldiers, 

whose names, rank, regiment, and company, are now carved in enduring marble 

that will last for generations to come.”45 A ceremony, attended by 150 people 

assembled around the flagstaff with speakers seated on top of the flagstaff mound, 

took place the Monday after the work was completed.46

Although the new headstones continued the same white tablet form in the 

landscape, the substitution of blocks for the headstones at the unknown graves—

amounting to over sixty percent of all grave markers—changed the uniformity 

of the circular plan (fig. 1.47). The new stones made clearly visible the enormous 

number of soldiers who died on the battlefield without proper identification and 

registration. 

Figure 1.47: A later photograph 

showing the two types of 

grave markers installed in 

1877, view southeast from the 

north side of the cemetery, 

c.1930. (Metropolitan Engraving 

Company, reproduced from The 

City of Petersburg: Metropolis of 

Southside Virginia, Louise Studio, 

c.1930.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

70

As part of the headstone project, the cemetery lawn was also improved through 

removal of remaining grave mounds, leveling, and application of lime and muck 

compost. This work had been recommended by James Gall at his June 7, 1877 

visit: “A large number of grave mounds still remain and interfere considerably 

with the cutting of grass and hurt the appearance of the place. These will be 

leveled and other necessary grading (will be undertaken) with the headstone 

work.”47 

Drives and Walks

By the time that the new headstones were installed in 1877, the character of 

the gravel and brick gutter-lined drives had been altered due to maintenance 

concerns. Already in July 1869, Superintendent Miller was reporting that 

“constant labor is required to keep them in good order.”48 Miller was referring 

to the weeds growing in the gravel surface, which were removed with a hoe and 

other hand tools. The brick gutters also clogged with debris, became weedy, and 

required repointing and replacement of deteriorated brick. In addition to the 

routine maintenance, by the summer of 1871 the wooden culverts that carried 

drainage beneath the drives were beginning to rot. Over the next few years, 

Miller changed the smaller culverts to brick box culverts, and replaced the larger 

culverts—ranging from twenty-four to 210 feet in length—with grass swales that 

had gravel French drains at drive and walk crossings.49

Superintendent Miller received concurrence that the gravel surface of the drives 

was simply too difficult to maintain and could be changed to a grass surface, to 

match the grass surface of the walks. By August 1874, the drives were, according to 

Lieutenant Major O. A. Mack’s inspection report, “overgrown with grass, which is 

kept close cut with the lawn mower.”50 This new turf on the drives was a Bermuda 

grass that was rolled to maintain an even surface.51 The change to a grass surface 

was certainly motivated primarily by maintenance issues, but may have also been 

viewed as an aesthetic improvement. Despite the turf surface, the drives at the 

time remained visually distinct by the edging of brick gutters. Where there were 

no brick gutters—along the circular turn-around and the walk that ran from the 

lodge around the perimeter of Division G—a low hedge or border was planted to 

define the edge.52

An August 1874 inspection reported that some of the bricks in the gutters were 

soft and crumbling, although a subsequent report of January 1876 noted that the 

gutters were overall in sound condition, and kept free from grass and weeds.53

The gutters would soon, however, meet their demise due to a technological 

improvement in lawn mowing—the acquisition of a horse-drawn lawn mower in 

the spring of 1878. A May 1878 inspection reported: “...the grounds had been 
71 

Site History, 1869-1933

newly cut over with the lawn mower and looked very fine...It is very gratifying 

to see with what ease and efficiency the machine does its work...the grass need 

never be higher at any time than two or three inches.” The brick gutters, however, 

proved to be an impediment to the operation of the new lawn mower. By October 

1878, all of the gutters, including those along the main drive, were filled with 

earth and turfed to facilitate mowing.54 With the covering of the brick gutters, the 

cemetery lawn extended over the entire cemetery landscape without interruption. 

As a result, the drives largely became undefined areas of open lawn between the 

cemetery divisions and sections (fig. 1.48). 

In contrast to the roads within the cemetery, the 1,025-foot long approach road 

was improved in 1878 into a more formal and defined circulation feature. Up until 

this time, the approach road was an earthen track through the open fields of the 

Flower Farm. By the fall of 1878, a year after the government had secured the 

right-of-way along the road from the Flower family, a gravel surface had been laid 

down and plans were made for planting an allee of shade trees. In October 1878, 

Quartermaster Inspector James Gall reported: “The approach avenue leading 

from the County road [Vaughan Road] to the Cemetery was recently graveled and 

arrangements are made for planting shade trees (tulip trees, maples, etc.) along 

the borders. This avenue, when properly planted and graveled will give a very 

beautiful approach to the Cemetery...”55

New Plantings and Small-Scale Improvements

Aside from the major structural elements in the landscape—the wall, buildings, 

drives and walks, and gravestones—the landscape of Poplar Grove was enhanced 

during the 1870s and early 1880s through replacement of the flagstaff, and the 

addition of ornamental plantings, benches, and signs.

Figure 1.48: Photograph of the 

center of the cemetery taken 

in c.1895 showing the turf 

drives, looking northwest with 

one of the radial drives in the 

foreground. This photograph 

also shows the flagstaff mound 

(by this time without plantings), 

gun monuments, and numerous 

clipped shrubs that were 

maintained at this time. The iron 

tablet next to the gun at left 

contained text from the 1867 

national cemetery act. (From The 

Artwork of Petersburg, Virginia, 

1903.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

72

The flagstaff together with the six-foot high flagstaff mound and 

encircling drive and gun monuments comprised the visual and 

symbolic center of the cemetery. The original wooden flagstaff, 

erected in 1866 by the burial corps, began to rot after several 

years and plans were made in the early 1870s for its replacement. 

On June 6, 1873, Assistant Quartermaster General Major 

Erickson requested that Quartermaster General Meigs accept a 

proposal by John C. Comfort of Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania, to 

“...erect a good, stout flagstaff at Poplar Grove national cemetery 

properly sheathed with copper and completed ready for halliards 

(sic)...” for $250.00.56 Comfort was given the contract, and after 

some initial problems with the construction were corrected, 

completed the project in the spring of 1874. The new wooden 

flagstaff was fifty-six feet high and twelve inches in diameter, 

and was painted white and set in a black-painted iron socket, 

which drained through a pipe to the brick gutter along the drive. 

Although the new flagstaff was an improvement, an inspection of 

the cemetery the following August remarked on its inadequacy, 

noting “...it is rather small for this place, where there are quite a number of 

tall pines, and standing between it and the Weldon Rail Road.” 57 As part of the 

project, the flagstaff mound, which Quartermaster O. A. Mack had earlier found 

“much too large” for the cemetery,” was reduced to four feet in height from six, 

and to twenty feet in diameter at the base from approximately forty (fig. 1.49; 

see also fig. 1.48). The mound, in the shape of a frustum of a cone, was ascended 

by a flight of unpainted wooden steps, and was planted with shrubs and beds of 

flowering annuals. 58

Around the central flagstaff, and probably scattered along the main drive 

and throughout the cemetery, were settees, a term for a bench popular in the 

nineteenth century. The Quartermaster’s office had begun soliciting bids in June 

1878 for the installation of 1,100 settees at the national cemeteries, in apparent 

response to growing visitation and commemorative use. The second lowest 

bid was submitted by The Composite Iron Works 

Company of New York City for the “Composite 

Settee,” at a cost of $3.00 each (fig. 1.50). This may 

have been the selected bid. Twenty settees, very 

similar to the Composite design but without the 

arms, were installed at Poplar Grove along the drives 

by the fall of 1878. Each measured approximately 

four feet long and had a slender cast-iron frame with 

a tie rod between the legs, and wood-slat back and 

seat, painted dark green.59

Figure 1.49: Section showing the 

scale of the reduced mound and 

flagstaff in 1874 compared to the 

original mound. (SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 1.50: Proposal for the 

“Composite Settee” submitted 

to the Quartermaster General’s 

Office in June 1877 by the 

Composite Iron Works Company 

of New York City. (RG 92, Records 

of the Quartermaster General 

Entry 689, National Archives I.)
73 

Site History, 1869-1933

Flowerbeds were features that the Quartermaster’s office generally did not 

promote for the national cemetery landscapes, in keeping with Olmsted’s advice 

to Quartermaster General Meigs. In its regulations for national cemeteries as later 

published, the Quartermaster’s office cautioned in an Olmstedian tone:

A well-kept sward, graceful shade trees, pretty shrubs and evergreens are 

of greater importance and contribute more to the beauty of the cemetery 

than a promiscuous distribution of flower beds. A few flowers about the 

lodge and at one or more other prominent points are all that should be 

maintained, as the expense and attention required in the cultivation of a 

large number of flowers can be better utilized in the care of the lawns.60

Despite this advice, most national cemeteries maintained more than a few 

flowerbeds and ornamental shrubs as part of the beautification program of 

the 1870s. The flowerbeds reflected ornamental qualities popular in garden 

cemeteries, and may have been added in many cases by superintendents who were 

probably reacting to poplar Victorian gardening styles. Superintendent Miller’s 

flowerbeds were most likely in the style of carpet beds, consisting of flowering 

annuals arranged in patterns and in a low, uniform height, perhaps with a vertical 

feature, such as cannas or grasses, and bordered by boxwood.61 Already in 1870, 

Miller had sown flower seeds in hot beds, low covered frames that were probably 

located along the perimeter south of the main gate, and was ordering flowering 

shrubs. On May 31, 1870, he wrote: “I have now 50 rose bushes in bloom in the 

cemetery, and have set out about 380 flowering plants, mostly annuals.”62 Some 

of these flowers were probably used for the four flowerbeds in the shape of corps 

badges near the old lodge that Miller had planted in 1869. With completion of the 

new stone lodge in 1872, a Maltese cross (the 5th Corps Badge) was established 

in front of the building, near the main gate. It was probably a flowerbed edged by 

boxwood.63 Although the exact location and dimensions of the other flowerbeds 

is not known, several were probably located around the gun monuments and 

on or surrounding the flagstaff mound. The roses were scattered throughout the 

cemetery. Miller was also probably responsible for the addition of plum and peach 

trees along the walk near the circular turn-around and alongside of Division F.64

In another indication of poplar Victorian tastes, Miller also clipped shrubs into 

geometric shapes. The Quartermaster’s office apparently cautioned against such 

ornament, as reflected in Lieutenant Colonel Mack’s inspection of Poplar Grove 

in January 1876: “The evergreens are mostly cedars—common junipers—some of 

them have been trimmed in fancy shapes as the Supt. was not able to accompany 

me over the grounds I forgot to tell him to let nature attend to the forms of the rest 

of these trees. 65
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

74

Poplar Grove received a large number of new plantings during the 1870s, initially 

as part of the 1870 appropriation for planting trees and shrubs in the national 

cemetery system. Up until this time, the cemetery trees were mostly cedars 

planted by the burial crops, the few willows and fruit trees planted by Miller, and 

loblolly pines that the burial corps had retained from the pre-existing woods. 

Approximately 150 specimen loblolly pines still remained in the cemetery by 1871, 

down from the roughly 180 recorded in 1867, with trunks ranging in diameter 

from four to six inches. 66 The first shipment of new plantings, a total of 183 trees, 

arrived at Poplar Grove in January 1871. These included horse chestnut, silver and 

sugar maples, box elder, linden, silver poplar, oak, ash, willow, Kentucky coffee 

tree, Norway and white spruce, Balsam fir, cedar, magnolia, purple beech, English 

hornbeam, and American larch. These were planted in an informal arrangement 

across the cemetery, in keeping with Olmsted’s recommendation, but using several 

species he had recommended against due to their weak and fast-growing habit or 

non-native origin. By April of 1871, Superintendent Miller reported that the new 

plantings were doing well, except for the Norway and white spruce, box elder, 

and sugar maple. Some of the other trees, in particular the balsam fir that was 

outside of its natural growing range, most likely did not survive long. A year later, 

in August 1872, Miller reported that 150 of the trees were doing well, and the rest 

were making “

little progress.”67

In May 1871, five months after the initial tree shipment, 101 American elms 

arrived at Poplar Grove for planting in a formal allee called a sylvan hall, a feature 

that contrasted with the overall informal arrangement. The function of the sylvan 

hall, a concept devised by the Quartermaster’s office in 1870 for implementation 

at all national cemeteries, was probably symbolic, but may have also served to 

define a formal approach to the flagstaff. At Poplar Grove, the sylvan hall was in 

the form of a cross that was probably along the north-south and east-west axis 

drives. The elms were planted three or four graves in from the drives, along with 

borders of boxwood and an undetermined conifer directly along the drives. 

Boxwoods were also planted along the drive between Divisions D and E, which 

may have served as the approach to the sylvan hall from the main drive.68 In his 

August 1874 inspection, Lieutenant Major Mack reported: “The elms, which 

have been dormant for two years and more, have taken a start this season, and are 

growing vigorously now.”69

There were apparently no additional trees planted within the cemetery through 

the early 1880s except on a replacement basis. In January 1876, Lieutenant 

Colonel Mack reported: “The trees in this cemetery are numerous, and in about 

the right proportion of evergreen and deciduous. I do not think any more are 

needed, except to replace such as may perish from time to time.”70 Two years 
75 

Site History, 1869-1933

later, inspector James Gall made a similar report on the trees and shrubs, noting 

that they had: “...received the necessary care and look well, especially those 

in the Sylvan Hall, which are about 4 inches in diameter and vigorous and well 

shaped.”71

Aside from the trees within the cemetery, the Quartermaster’s office also oversaw 

the planting of the allee of trees along the approach road in 1878. The trees were 

saplings dug up from surrounding woods. Many did not survive, and few except 

for some of the tulip trees promised to grow into healthy specimens. By the spring 

of 1881, Inspector James Gall was recommending that new trees be planted, “...

with the best obtainable trees from the nursery, and that such care be taken in the 

preparation of the holes...The avenue, if properly planted and shaded, will form 

an attractive feature of the place.”72 In the spring of 1882, the allee was replanted 

with red maple, elm, pin oak, and linden, spaced at twenty-five feet. At the same 

time, a number of other improvements were carried out in the cemetery, based 

in large part on recommendations made in Gall’s spring 1881 inspection report. 

Replacement trees were planted within the cemetery, sunken graves and low spots 

were filled and turfed, headstones were reset where they had begun to lean, and a 

new signboard at the entrance on Vaughan Road was probably installed.73

The 1882 improvements also included the addition of commemorative and 

information signs known as tablets, which were installed systematically at all 

national cemeteries. The War Department intended these to provide a durable 

replacement for deteriorated painted signboards.74 The tablets, made by the 

Army’s Rock Island Arsenal, consisted of cast-iron rectangular placards of 

various sizes set at an angle, approximately two to three feet in height. The tablets 

were painted black with the lettering highlighted in silver, and were mounted on 

square white-painted wooden posts.75 At Poplar Grove, there were sixteen tablets 

including one large tablet (2’6” x 3’10”) near the main gate stating cemetery use 

regulations; one tablet (unknown dimension) on the circular drive adjoining 

the lodge stating “Visitors Notice, Invitation to Register;” four tablets (1’10” x 

3’) containing the text of the “Act to Establish & Protect National Cemeteries 

Approved February 22, 1867,” located near the main entrance, two along the outer 

drives, and one near the flagstaff (see fig. 1.48); and ten small tablets (1’2” x 1’8”) 

scattered throughout the cemetery containing a four-line verse from Theodore 

O’Hara’s poem, “The Bivouac of the Dead.”76 

Landscape maintenance, 1882-1925

The installation of the iron tablets in c.1882 was the last significant addition to the 

landscape of Poplar Grove National Cemetery in its initial period of development 

and beautification. In 1892, this landscape, little changed over the previous 

decade, was documented on a plan drawn by the Quartermaster’s office as part 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

76

of a systematic documentation of the national cemetery system. The plan showed 

the local context, drives and walks, inclosure walls, central flagstaff and flagstaff 

mound, buildings, and trees and shrubs (fig. 1.51, see also fig. 1.48 dating to 

roughly the same time).77 

Administration and Use

Into the first decade of the twentieth century, Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

continued to be administered through the Quartermaster’s Washington Depot. 

In 1912, the Office of the Quartermaster General was reorganized into the 

Quartermaster Corps, and as part of the change, administration of Poplar Grove 

was transferred to the Quartermaster’s Third Corps Area Headquarters based in 

Baltimore.78 Although always standardized, administration became increasingly so 

during this period. Cemetery regulations were published in manual form in 1911, 

governing in exacting detail issues pertaining to staffing, building and landscape 

maintenance, and burial procedures. Beginning in 1913, reports filed by the 

Figure 1.51: Plan of Poplar 

Grove drawn by the Office of the 

Quartermaster General, May 18, 

1892, from a bound document 

of similar plans produced for all 

national cemeteries in 1892-1893. 

The notes at the right refer to the 

topography and boundaries of the 

cemetery; those at the left are a 

key to coniferous and deciduous 

trees, and headstones. (RG 92, 

Records of the Quartermaster 

General Entry 691, National 

Archives I.)
77 

Site History, 1869-1933

cemetery superintendents became standardized questionnaires, replacing the 

earlier hand-written reports. (Example report in Appendix F.)

Although Poplar Grove had few open plots, there were approximately twenty 

new burials made between 1896 and 1925, including the first Civil War veteran 

burial in 1896 (earlier burials were reinterred Civil War remains). The most active 

year for burials was 1918, when seven new graves were dug for Civil War veterans 

and casualties of World War I. Most of these burials were made in the walk north 

of the flagstaff in Division C or at the ends of grave rows. For these later burials 

and replacement of broken markers, the Quartermaster’s office continued to use 

the same headstone specifications until shortly after the turn of the century. In 

1903, after studying the durability of the original headstones, the specifications 

were changed to make them slightly bigger (two inches taller and wider) and the 

inscription font larger. At the same time, the War Department abandoned the use 

of the block for unknown graves and instead used headstones with the inscription 

“Unknown U.S. Soldier,” along with the grave number. 79 

The lack of a substantial number of new burials at Poplar Grove eventually led, 

along with its remote location, difficult access, and other factors, to declining 

visitation by the late nineteenth century. 80 During the late 1880s, visitation was 

still substantial, as evidenced by ruts in the main drive caused by “considerable 

driving,” according to a Quartermaster Inspection report.81 By the 1890s, with 

the Civil War growing more distant, relatives and friends of the Union soldiers 

visited less frequently. Poplar Grove, as was typical of older or inactive cemeteries, 

became a sleepy place without new burials to infuse visitation for the recently 

departed. Even Decoration Day at Poplar Grove apparently received little 

attention after the 1880s—as a Union burial place, the cemetery did not share 

the same attraction for local residents as the Confederate burials at Blanford 

Cemetery in Petersburg (the Southern states did not recognize the federal 

Decoration Day until after World War I).82

Perhaps due to the relatively low number of new burials or to its remote location, 

no commemorative monuments were added to Poplar Grove. As the twentyfifth anniversary of the end of the war approached in 1890, veterans groups and 

northern states erected often elaborate monuments in national cemeteries, some 

of which were smaller than Poplar Grove but which were either associated with 

notable events of the war, or were still active burial grounds. Culpeper (Virginia) 

National Cemetery, for example, received three large monuments during this 

time erected by the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry in 1893, the State of New York in 

1902 in honor of the 28th New York Volunteer Infantry, and the Commonwealth 

of Pennsylvania in 1910 in honor of its fallen soldiers buried at the cemetery (fig. 

1.52). Other Civil War-era national cemeteries that received similar monuments 

Figure 1.52: Monument erected 

by the Commonwealth of 

Pennsylvania in 1910 within 

the burial grounds of Culpeper 

National Cemetery, Virginia, from 

a recent photograph, 2006. (SUNY 

ESF.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

78

during this time included Cold Harbor, Winchester, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, 

and Antietam. Poplar Grove probably did not receive such monuments partly 

because several states, including Massachusetts, Maine, and Pennsylvania, erected 

large monuments nearby on the battlefields of Petersburg. Poplar Grove was 

also not alone in lacking such attention from veterans. Fort Harrison, Glendale, 

Richmond, Seven Pines, and Yorktown National Cemeteries also did not receive 

major commemorative monuments during this time. 83

Staffing at Poplar Grove remained largely unchanged from the early years of the 

cemetery, with one superintendent (still required to be a disabled veteran) and one 

regular assistant, but the turnover increased after 1890. That year, Superintendent 

Lacy, who in 1876 had replaced the original superintendent, August Miller, 

retired. After Lacy, most superintendents remained at Poplar Grove for less than 

three years, with the exception of John Laun, who served from 1895 through 

1903.84 The remote location of the cemetery, and lack of activity with few new 

burials and low visitation, apparently made it a less than choice appointment. 

Upkeep and Improvements 

Despite its relative lack of attention, Poplar Grove remained well tended and 

received standard improvements. Quartermaster inspection reports from the 

1880s through the first decade of the twentieth century remarked on the generally 

good condition of the cemetery. 

The most notable standard Quartermaster improvement to Poplar Grove during 

this time was the addition of a rostrum (bandstand) where speakers gave memorial 

addresses. Rostrums were added to the national cemeteries in a systematic way 

beginning in the 1890s in tandem with the growing popularity of Decoration Day 

ceremonies.85 In 1891, around the time interest in commemorating the Battle 

of Petersburg was emerging, Superintendent E. L. Grant began planning for a 

rostrum at Poplar Grove, but it was not until the summer 

of 1896 that the Quartermaster’s office approved the 

project. The Poplar Grove rostrum, an iron structure 

completed on January 2, 1897, was a standard design that 

matched the rostrums at Fredericksburg, Richmond, and 

Yorktown National Cemeteries, among others. It was sited 

in the open area between the graves in Division F and 

the circular turn-around (fig. 1.53). From here, orators 

could address people gathered in the turn-around. It was 

an octagonal pavilion with cast-iron posts and wroughtiron ornamentation, set on a raised brick foundation, 

measuring fourteen feet in diameter with a ceiling height 

of ten and one-half feet (fig. 1.54).86

Figure 1.53: Detail of a blueprint 

of the 1892 plan of Poplar Grove 

annotated in 1909 to show 

additions including the rostrum, 

cave (at lower left), and gravel 

surface on the main drive. The 

annotations also show the 

location of iron tablets (indicated 

by letters with dimensions), 

which had been installed in 

c.1882 but were not shown on 

the original plan. (Records of 

the Quartermaster General, 

Entry 576, Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery Records, box 57, 

National Archives I.)
79 

Site History, 1869-1933

Aside from the rostrum, other changes to the landscape during 

the later 1880s through the first decade of the twentieth 

century were modest and mostly to do with maintenance, 

such as filling sunken graves, painting buildings, replacing 

vegetation, and caring for the grave markers. Because the 

headstones were set directly in the ground, they were subject 

to shifting, and several inspection reports from this time 

identified the need for straightening, raising, and aligning. 

In addition, the white marble became dirty and moldy in 

the humid climate, and required periodic cleaning. The 

Quartermaster regulations stipulated that the headstones be 

cleaned at least once in five years, or more frequently in shady conditions, with 

palmetto-fiber scrubbing brushes and Sapolio (a brand of mild soap).87

Quartermaster inspectors generally found the trees and shrubs at Poplar Grove 

doing very well, such as reported in 1885: 

The deciduous trees are numerous, thrifty & doing well. There is a large 

plantation of fine young elms [the sylvan hall], some large native Norway 

pinus [loblolly pine], numerous cedars & many thrifty fruit trees [near the 

circular turn-around]...The osage hedge [perimeter hedge] is very fine, 

has evidently been judiciously trimmed from an early day & is thick close 

to the ground & cut, wedge shape, very nicely...88

Notable additions and changes to the cemetery plantings included the 

replacement of the boxwood hedge around the service yard with an arborvitae 

hedge in 1888, and replacement of the Osage orange hedge with a bed of English 

ivy in c.1891, despite its reported good condition a few years earlier. At the same 

time, the sylvan hall of American elms was removed. Several years earlier in an 

1888 report, Quartermaster Inspector W. Owen identified a problem with these 

trees: “The Elms of the ‘sylvan grove’ [sic] are planted on the graves & some of 

them are much in the way of the lawn mower but that cannot well be helped. To 

take out any trees would destroy the cross.”89 Despite Owen’s apparent support 

for keeping the sylvan hall, most of the elms were removed within a few years, 

leaving just scattered trees.90 

Lawn mowing and lawn care were the biggest continual maintenance issues for 

the superintendent and his one assistant, despite the improvement provided by 

the horse-drawn mower. It probably took several days to mow the lawn, and 

during the spring, may have been a continual task. Despite the effort, the lawn 

often looked poor. A Quartermaster inspection report from 1885, for example, 

Figure 1.54 (right): The Poplar 

Grove rostrum completed in 

1897, looking east from a 1967 

photograph by Fred Bell. According 

to National Cemetery regulations, 

the structure would have been 

painted black with a light blue 

ceiling and a red roof. (Poplar Grove 

administrative files, Petersburg 

National Battlefield.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

80

found that the “...grass is backward, with much wild onion, sorrel & other small 

weeds...grass does not seem to do as well in this country or that at City Point as 

in and about Richmond. The soil is clayey & cold.” The next inspection in 1888 

found that the lawn was “...Poor and surface looks rough. Needs fertilizing & 

more frequent mowing.”91 The superintendent also had to maintain the grass on 

the walks and drives. The grass on the main drive, the most heavily used in the 

cemetery, often became rutted from use by carriages, an appearance that inspector 

Owen found “...looks like a country woods road.” Owen recommended that the 

ruts be sodded and that carriages should be kept out of the cemetery.92 By the 

turn of the century, the Quartermaster office decided to remove the turf and lay 

down a graded gravel surface, matching the materials of the approach road (the 

old brick gutters were not uncovered). The new surface included the circle around 

the flagstaff, but not the circular turn-around adjacent to the lodge. Here, the drive 

was widened for a small parking space. 

Figure 1.55: Photograph of Poplar Grove National Cemetery looking east into the cemetery at the entrance gate, 1904. (Records of the 

Quartermaster General, RG 92, Still Pictures Division, National Archives II.)
81 

Site History, 1869-1933

Soon after the turn of the century, each of the national cemeteries was 

photographed, with Poplar Grove photographed in 1904 from the entrance gate 

(fig. 1.55). Taken in late fall or winter, the photograph captured the main drive 

with its recent gravel surface, the 1876 entrance gates and brick inclosure wall, 

the 1872 lodge with its stone walls, slate roof, and darkly painted trim, and the 

grass-covered circular turn-around, ringed by clipped boxwoods. The photograph 

also shows loblolly pines in the background (remnants from the landscape of 

the engineers’ camp), an arborvitae hedge surrounding the service yard, and two 

magnolias at the entrance to the service yard. Also barely visible along the drive 

are an iron tablet and a settee. 

During the decade following this photograph, there were a number of 

improvements to the buildings at Poplar Grove. Within the service yard, a frame 

privy, with a footprint of approximately four feet by five feet and two holes, was 

built in c.1905 on the west side of the forage shed, apparently to supplement the 

pre-existing privy within the toolshed-stable. The forage shed, which was erected 

by the superintendent in c.1879 and was still being used to store forage for the 

horse as well as fuel, was reported as being in “bad condition” in 1901.93 Calls 

for replacement were again made in c.1910, but in 1912, an inspector found that 

the forage shed could last another year or two if it were patched and repaired. 

Finally, in c.1915, the forage shed was torn down and replaced by a frame addition 

housing a “feed room” at the rear of the brick toolshed-stable (fig. 1.56). In 

c.1925, the gap between the rear of the feed room and the brick inclosing wall 

was covered by a tin-roof for use as a shed.94 Across the main drive, a new kitchen 

wing, built of brick and sheathed in stucco, was built at the rear of the lodge and 

completed in November 1914. First recommended by inspectors in 1910, the new 

wing was built as a modern replacement 

for the kitchen outbuilding built in c.1879. 

To the rear of the old kitchen outbuilding 

against the brick inclosure wall was a small 

brick building, partially below grade, known 

as “the cave” (see fig. 1.53). This building, 

measuring five feet by six feet and four feet 

deep, was constructed in c.1900, perhaps as a 

root cellar.95

Other changes during the first two decades 

of the twentieth century occurred at the 

center of the cemetery. The fifty-six foot tall 

wooden flagstaff had been identified as being 

insufficiently tall for the size of Poplar Grove 

since the time it was installed in 1873, and 

Figure 1.56: Plan made in c.1925 

of the 1879 toolshed-stable and 

the “feed room” addition made in 

c.1915. The “Shed” extending to 

the brick inclosing wall was added 

in c.1925. (RG 79, Entry 5, Records 

of the War Department Relating to 

National Parks, 1892-1937, box 50, 

National Archives II, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

82

as far back as 1888, an inspector had reported that it “...seems sound but is badly 

warped & ugly.”96 In 1910, the Quartermaster inspector raised the height issue 

again, recommending the installation of a taller pole, and three years later in 1913, 

a new white-painted iron flagstaff was erected and the old mound, which had lost 

its regular profile by the 1890s (see fig. 1.48), was removed.97 Flagstaff mounds 

had also fallen out of favor by this time: the Quartermaster regulations for 

national cemeteries issued in 1911 forbade building of mounds around flagstaffs.98

A photograph of Poplar Grove taken in c.1914 shortly after the new flagstaff 

was installed captured the cemetery at what was most likely the height of its 

development, although the cemetery lacked some features and ornamental 

plantings it once had during Superintendent Miller’s tenure in the 1870s (fig. 

1.57). The photo illustrated the graveled main drive, mature specimen trees, neatly 

sheared boxwoods and other scattered shrubs, iron tablets, and the new flagstaff 

in the distance. The lawn had been recently mown, although trimming had not 

been completed around the grave markers. One year after this photograph was 

taken on August 2, 1915, a tornado swept across the cemetery, ripping down 

110 trees (approximately half of the trees in the cemetery), breaking forty-seven 

headstones, and damaging the roof on the forage room addition on the toolshedstable.99 Plans were soon underway to correct the broken headstones, and during 

the summer of the following year, the Quartermaster office installed replacements 

Figure 1.57: View from the 

rostrum looking northeast along 

the main drive toward the 

new iron flagstaff, c.1914. This 

photograph shows one of the 

Bivouac of the Dead tablets along 

the main drive at the right. The 

dark mounds in the foreground 

are sheared boxwood shrubs. (War 

Diary of Luman Harris Tenney 

1861-1865, 1914). 
83 

Site History, 1869-1933

using the more durable specifications introduced in 1904. One of the headstones 

broken in the storm, a unique non-government headstone for the grave of 

Scotland native Adam Cowan Murray installed by 1869, was proposed for repair 

rather than replacement with a new government headstone.100 While the grave 

markers were fixed, no plans for replacing the trees or repairing the damaged 

building were developed for more than a decade following the storm. Despite this, 

Quartermaster inspectors found the cemetery during this time to be in “excellent 

condition.”101 

Final War Department improvements, 1925-1933

With the legislative establishment of Petersburg National Military Park in 1926, 

the War Department gained a new presence in Petersburg, building on its longtime involvement in Poplar Grove National Cemetery and its more recent but 

short-lived presence at Camp Lee, an Army installation located east of Petersburg 

established during World War I.102 The legislation for the new park, developed out 

of a feasibility study begun in February 1925 and building on other efforts dating 

back to the 1890s, was created to mark and preserve lands related to the campaign, 

siege, and defense of Petersburg. The proposed park formed a series of parcels 

along the Federal and Confederate lines stretching for more than twenty miles, 

to be linked by park roads (fig. 1.58). The park was part of a system of military 

parks administered by the War Department, but park management and planning 

was largely handled by the Petersburg National Military Park Commission, a 

local civilian board. By 1928, the commission had begun to acquire property and 

carry out initial improvements. Over the next four years, nearly 500 acres were 

acquired and construction was begun on the connecting park roads. On June 20, 

1932, Petersburg National Military Park was officially dedicated.103 In the vicinity 

of Poplar Grove, plans for the new park called for the acquisition of lands along 

the Federal Left Flank, which ran in an east-west direction north of the cemetery. 

Most of these lands along the Federal Left Flank were acquired by 1932, but 

work on the planned park road paralleling the earthworks, known as Flank Road, 

was not begun until later. Plans called for Flank Road to cross Vaughan Road 

approximately a half mile north of Poplar Grove (see fig. 1.58). 

Administration and Use

In response to the apparent lack of public interest going back several decades, the 

Office of the Inspector General recommended in its 1928 report on Poplar Grove 

that the “...War Department initiate correspondence with American Legion 

Posts or town officials with a view toward having appropriate ceremonies take 

place...on Decoration Day of each year and that all cemetery superintendents 

be instructed to offer the fullest cooperation.”104 New burials continued during 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

84

this time at the slow rate characteristic of decades past, with a total of five burials 

between 1925 and 1933, not counting reinterment of Civil War remains.105

Despite the inspector’s concern and limited new burials, public interest in 

visiting Poplar Grove was beginning to revive at the time due in part to the 

establishment of Petersburg National Military Park and easier access made 

possible by automobiles. While interest in the cemetery probably rose during 

the late 1920s over previous years, the numbers still remained small. Between 

August and December of 1928, Poplar Grove received seventy-eight visitors; and 

from January through June of 1929, sixty-six (including fourteen on Memorial 

Day). 106 Probably the heaviest day of visitation at Poplar Grove during the early 

years of the military park occurred in April 1931 with a ceremony marking the 

reinterment of the remains of twenty-nine unknown Union soldiers recovered 

from the Crater battlefield on March 28-30, 1931. The remains were unearthed as 

part of the park’s acquisition and restoration of the Crater battlefield. According 

to the Petersburg city manager, a “tremendous crowd” attended the reinterment 

ceremony at Poplar Grove.107

Figure 1.58: Map of Petersburg 

National Military Park showing 

general intent of original 

c.1926 park plan, from a 1937 

map showing subsequent 

park development. The black 

arrow points to Poplar Grove. 

Hatched areas represent federal 

government lands. (RG 79, 

Records of the National Park 

Service, Entry 31, Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery, box 2704, 

National Archives II, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.) 
85 

Site History, 1869-1933

While Poplar Grove National Cemetery was intimately related to the park theme, 

it remained under the administration of the Quartermaster rather than the local 

park commission. In February 1925, the same month that Congress approved 

a feasibility study for establishing a national military park at Petersburg, the 

Quartermaster Corps issued a report of repairs required at Poplar Grove, mapping 

out a five-year improvement program. With plans for a neighboring national 

military park, the Quartermaster Corps undoubtedly saw the need to spruce up 

the sleepy cemetery. Initial plans called for modernization of the lodge, removal 

of the frame building at the rear of the toolshed-stable, construction of a new 

public toilet and a new well house (to replace the c.1871 well house in the service 

yard), repairs to the rostrum, replacement of brick pavement around the lodge 

with concrete, paving of the main drive, and planting 250 trees to replace those 

lost in the 1915 tornado.108 Planning for these improvements progressed over the 

following few years. A new well was proposed in 1926 (it is not known if it was 

built), and in 1927, the Quartermaster Corps revised plans to include construction 

of a new service building to replace the entire toolshed-stable and its additions, 

and construction of a “standard brick toilet building” with separate facilities for 

men and women. To justify the need for the new toilet building, Quartermaster 

Corps wrote that it was “...necessary for the reason that this cemetery is a 

considerable distance from any public building or hotel and is visited by a great 

many parties traveling in motor cars.”109 In 1928, word was circulating that 

Vaughan Road would be paved, probably also in response to plans for the new 

park and rising use of automobiles. The Quartermaster Corps recommended that 

if Vaughan Road were paved, the cemetery approach road and main drive should 

also be paved at the same time.110

Implementation of the Improvement Plans

In the summer of 1929, building plans were finalized through the Quartermaster 

Supply Officer, Washington General Depot. For the new stable-garage (officially 

called the “Outbuilding”) and public restroom (“Utility Building”), plans called 

for simple, Colonial Revival-style buildings with stucco exteriors (unpainted, 

probably to relate to the stone of the lodge), gable roofs with eaves returns, metal 

roof sheathing, and multi-paned windows. The contract for the construction 

of both buildings was awarded to the firm of H. Herfurth Jr., of Washington 

D. C. The public restroom building, built at a cost of $3,127, was the first to be 

completed on August 10, 1929. Built of hollow tile, the one-story building housed 

separate restrooms for men and women, a fuel storage room, and an electric 

generating motor and water storage room (fig. 1.59). Construction required the 

demolition of the c.1879 brick kitchen, which had been used as a woodshed 

since the kitchen wing was built on the lodge in 1914. The brick cave along the 

inclosure wall was probably removed at the same time. The septic tank for the 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

86

new restrooms was built to the east, and two years later in spring 1931, it was 

apparently retrofitted with a septic field, which included 360 feet of drain pipes 

and tiles. Construction of the septic field required removal of trees and shrubs 

in the lodge grounds, some of which had been planted around the former turnaround that probably fell out of use around 1900. 111 As part of the restroom 

building construction, the old brick and grass walks were removed from the lodge 

grounds and a new concrete walk was laid down between the lodge and the new 

building. 

In the service yard, the 1879 toolshed-stable and adjoining forage shed and 

tin-roofed shed were demolished in 1929 for construction of the new stablegarage. Completed at a cost of $3,950 on October 10, 1929, the one and one-half 

story building was constructed of brick with a workroom and stall, and a loft 

for storage (fig. 1.60). Following the completion of the two new buildings, the 

lodge was modernized through several projects completed between 1930 and 

1932 that included new utilities, removal of the slate roof and replacement with 

tin (matching the two new buildings), reconstruction of the front porch floor in 

concrete, and replacement of brick front walk with concrete. 112 It was probably 

also at this time that the trim was changed from a dark color to white, matching 

the trim on the garage and public restroom building.

Figure 1.59 (top left): The 

public restroom (utility) 

building completed in 1929, 

looking southeast from a recent 

photograph, 2006. The fence and 

white paint on the stucco are later 

changes. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 1.60 (bottom left): The 

stable-garage (outbuilding) 

completed in 1929, looking 

northwest from a recent 

photograph, 2006. The set of 

garage doors to the right is a later 

alteration. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 1.61 (right): The new iron 

flagstaff installed in October 

1930, detail of a 1939 photograph. 

(Copyright The Library of Virginia, 

from Virginia Room Exhibit at 

the 1939 World’s Fair, image /

WF/05/06/017.)
87 

Site History, 1869-1933

In the landscape, the Quartermaster Depot developed plans in the fall of 1930 for 

the replacement of the iron flagstaff erected in 1913. Although a new flagstaff had 

not been identified as part of the five-year improvement plan outlined in1925, 

there must have been some flaw to the existing iron flagstaff, which in 1930 

was just seventeen years old. Perhaps it had a structural defect, or more likely, 

it was not sufficiently tall for the size of the cemetery and height of the trees. In 

October 1930, crews installed the new flagstaff, which towered above the trees at 

upwards of eighty feet tall (fig. 1.61). It was built of iron sections fitted by bolted 

flanges, set on a concrete pad. The height of the flagstaff required support by guy 

wires fastened to the midsection of the flagstaff and anchored on the ground by 

turnbuckles. The flagstaff and guy wires were painted white, and the iron base and 

turnbuckles were painted black. 113

The spring following the installation of the flagstaff, the Quartermaster Third 

Corps in Baltimore finalized a tree planting plan for the cemetery, the first since 

the tornado of 1915 resulted in the loss of 110 trees. Dated March 31, 1931, 

the plan called for planting of 101 new trees that would reestablish an even 

distribution across the landscape and a continuous allee along the approach road 

(fig. 1.62). The plan also documented eighty surviving mature trees within the 

Figure 1.62: Planting plan for 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

and the approach road, March 31, 

1931. The plan indicates existing 

and proposed specimen trees. (RG 

79, Entry 5, Records of the War 

Department Relating to National 

Parks, 1892-1937, box 50, National 

Archives II.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

88

cemetery, plus thirty-four boxwood shrubs, the Maltese cross boxwood hedge in 

front of the lodge, and an arborvitae hedge screening the service yard. Trees were 

specified for planting in the walks between the rows of headstones, using eight 

species: European mountain ash (10 specimens), pin oak (20), Norway spruce (6), 

Austrian pine (4), American holly (6), American elm (20), American linden (12), 

and Norway maple (23). The contract for the trees was awarded to the nursery of 

Henkels & McCoy, “Landscape Contractors –Tree Surgeons – Road Builders,” 

of Germantown, Pennsylvania, who completed the planting on May 18, 1931. 

While the specifications allowed changes based on field conditions, the plan was 

apparently executed without substantial modification.114

As planning was underway on the tree planting project, plans were also being 

finalized for paving the approach road and main drive. In the spring of 1931, 

the Quartermaster Corps finalized specifications for the project, following up 

on discussions about appropriate surface treatment going back several years. In 

response to an initial proposal for paving made in 1928, the Inspector General’s 

Office had recommended the main drive within the cemetery be returned to turf 

and that all public motorized vehicles be banned from entering the cemetery. The 

Quartermaster Corps responded that it wished to retain the main drive in gravel 

to allow wagon access for interments, but alternatively would consider turfing 

the portion of the main drive beyond the service area. Ultimately the option for 

paving the entire main drive in asphalt prevailed, most likely based on arguments 

for durability and ease of maintenance.115 On May 22, 1931, a contract for the 

paving was awarded to Vernon J. Cowing of Ashland, Virginia, a field engineer 

for The Bituminous Roads Company. The project, totaling 1,760 lineal feet from 

Vaughan Road to the flagstaff, included removal of the existing gravel, installation 

of a four-inch stone base, and application of a two inches of emulsified asphalt 

penetrating wear surface on a road width of twelve feet. The project also added 

earthen shoulders on the approach road, and changed the circular drive around 

the flagstaff to accommodate a wider turning radius. The paving changed the 

circle into a tear-drop shape and required the addition of thirty feet of concrete 

curbing to avoid grading over the adjoining grave markers in Division A, Section 

A. Cowing completed the paving project on June 26, 1931.116

While paving of the main drive and approach road reduced the maintenance work 

at the cemetery, the improvement probably proved insignificant compared with 

the labor still needed for lawn mowing with the cemetery’s horse-drawn mower, 

three manual push mowers, and a scythe used to trim around the headstones. 

Although the new garage built in 1929 was designed to house the cemetery horse 

used in lawn mowing, just two years later in the fall of 1931, the Quartermaster 

Depot General decided to replace it with a gasoline-powered push lawn mower.117
89 

Although the power mower eased the job, mowing eight acres and trimming 

around the nearly 5,600 grave markers still would have remained an onerous task. 

In February 1932, a forester with the Office of the Inspector General visited Poplar 

Grove in its last year under War Department administration. The report focused 

on plans for improving vegetation and caring for eighty of the 101 trees that had 

survived from the new plantings the previous year. The report also documented 

general conditions, including a photograph looking east from near the rostrum 

(fig. 1.63).118 The photograph showed widely spaced trees, including several tall 

loblolly pines—remnants from the engineers’ camp—mown lawn, ivy growing on 

the brick perimeter wall, headstones, and the blocks marking unknown graves. 

Although generally well maintained, upon closer inspection the photograph 

reveals that the tablets and blocks were stained, some were leaning or sunken, and 

the surrounding grass was not closely trimmed. 

The condition of the grave markers documented in the forester’s photograph 

apparently spurred action on their improvement beginning in the spring of 1932. 

At this time, the newly-appointed cemetery superintendent, Walter Pearce, 

reported: “...Headstones, Is in poor alinement, Many of them was never aligned, 

and to line them now will be a job, Those that need lowering, raising and striating 

up will be attended to soon” [sic]. 119 Over the course of the next year, cemetery 

laborers worked on aligning and cleaning the stones, although the work remained 

incomplete. To advance the work, in the fall of 1932 the Quartermaster Depot 

Site History, 1869-1933

Figure 1.63: Photograph of 

Poplar Grove taken from the near 

the rostrum looking east along 

the ivy-covered inclosure wall, 

from a tree inspection report, 

February 1932. The caption in 

the report reads: “Characteristic 

pines and hollies at Poplar Grove, 

Petersburg, Va.” (RG 92, Entry 

1891, Office of the Quartermaster 

General, Correspondence, 

Geographic File, 1922-1935, box 

1773, National Archives II.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

90

provided hypochlorite of lime (a bleaching agent) for cleaning the stones, to 

replace the traditional method that employed brushing with soap.120

By the winter of 1932-1933, during the last days of War Department 

administration, Poplar Grove National Cemetery reflected five years of 

improvements with new and renovated buildings, a taller flagstaff, new trees, 

paved roads, and ongoing work to clean and align the grave markers. These 

improvements enhanced a landscape that had evolved over seven decades of 

military administration. Throughout this period, the long-standing issue of 

maintenance—notably the labor-intensive tasks of lawn mowing and care of the 

headstones—had proved problematic. This issue would soon lead to extensive 

changes in the landscape under a civilian federal agency that had little prior 

experience with administering cemeteries. 

Endnotes

1 Herbert Olsen, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery History” (Unpublished report prepared for the National Park Service, 

31 May 1954), 66.

2 Richard L. Jones, Dinwiddie County: Carrefour of the Commonwealth (Dinwiddie, Virginia: Dinwiddie County Board of 

Supervisors, 1976), 295.

3 August Miller, “History of Poplar Grove National Cemetery,” 24 April 1871, Highlights of Superintendent Miller letters, 

transcription of Poplar Grove archives at Petersburg National Battlefield by park ranger Betsy Dinger (hereafter, “POGR 

database”).

4 MacCloskey, 37, 44; Edward Steere, “Shrines of the Honored Dead” (Washington, D. C.: Department of the Army, Office 

of the Quartermaster General, c.1956), 26.

5 Olsen, 57. Plantings had not been specified in the initial $750,000 appropriated for national cemeteries through the act of 

February 22, 1867. 

6 Frederick Law Olmsted to Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, 2 August 1870, The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted: 

Volume 6 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), 386-388.

7 Olmsted to Meigs, 2 August 1870.

8 Inspection of Quartermaster General plans of the national cemeteries made in the 1890s, and photographs of the 

cemeteries made in c.1900-1905, National Archives I and II. 

9 War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General, Regulations for the Government of National Cemeteries

(Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1911), 4; project correspondence, 1929-1933, Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery Records, RG 79, Entry 5, Records of the War Department Relating to National Parks, 1892-1937, National 

Archives II, College Park, Maryland (hereafter, “Poplar Grove NPS War Department Records, NARA II”), box 51. 

10 Highlights of Superintendent Miller letters, 9 July 1870, POGR database.

11 Olsen, 87; Lieutenant Colonel O. A. Mack, Report of Inspection of the Poplar Grove & City Point National 

Cemeteries,” 14 January 1876, RG 92, Entry 576, Poplar Grove National Cemetery Records, National Archives I, 

Washington, D.C. (hereafter, “Poplar Grove Records, NARA I”), box 57.

12 W. T. Wood, Inspector General, “Report of an Inspection of the National Cemetery Poplar Grove, Va.,” 6 May 1904, 

Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 77. This garden existed by 1902 and was probably established much earlier.

13 August Miller to Major General Lorenzo Thomas, 31 March 1869, POGR database.
91 

14 Therese Sammartino, “National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, Civil War Era 

National Cemeteries” (United States Department of Veterans Affairs, 1994), Section E, pages 13-14.

15 “Memorial Celebration To-Day at Poplar Grove,” Petersburg Daily Courier, 30 May 1871, page 3, column 4; “Federal 

Decoration Day,” Petersburg Daily Courier, 31 May 1871, page 3, column 1. Of this ceremony, Superintendent Miller 

wrote “...yesterday has been the first day on which the graves were generally decorated with Flowers, since I have charge 

of this Cemetery. The people of Petersburg and vicinity, both white and black, turned out en mass for the occasion. It 

was gratifying to see the people taking at last a [sic] interest in showing due respect to the graves of the fallen Soldiers...” 

Superintendent August Miller to General Meigs, 31 May 1871, POGR database. 

16 “Decoration of Federal Graves,” Petersburg Index and Appeal, 31 May 1875, page 3, column 2.

17 August Miller to Quartermaster General U.S.A., 31 July 1869, POGR database.

18 August Miller, letter to unidentified person, 30 November 1869, Highlights of Superintendent Miller’s Letters, POGR 

database.

19 This same style was being employed in plans for what might be considered the parent building to the national cemetery 

lodges—the State, War, and Navy Building in Washington, D. C. Construction began in 1871, but plans for the building, 

designed by Alfred B. Mullet, may have been developed earlier.

20 Sammartino, National Register documentation, Section E, page 10.

21 Henry Hodges, Quartermaster, Philadelphia, to General M. C. Meigs, 8 March 1871, citing earlier correspondence, 

Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57; Bids for lodge at Poplar Grove and advertisement dated May 30, 1870 filed in 

Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57; Articles of Agreement, Henry C. Hodges, James R. Dobbyn, 16 August 1870; 

August Miller to Quartermaster General, 31 August 1870, POGR database.

22 Henry Hodges to General J. Meigs, 8 April 1871; “Case of Lodge, Poplar Grove Cemetery, Bids for,” 26 April 1871 

(various bids enclosed), Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

23 Superintendent August Miller, monthly reports for October 1871 and January 1872, POGR database.

24 Superintendent August Miller, June 1872 monthly report, POGR database.

25 August Miller to Quartermaster General, 30 September 1869, POGR database; Major O. A. Mack, “Inspection Report 

for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 7 August 1874, Oliver Cox, “Report on Poplar Grove,” 6 November 

1876, and W. H. Owen, “Report of Inspection of Poplar Grove,” 18 April 1885, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

26 Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs, “Enclosing Walls for National Cemeteries,” dated August 12, 1870, RG 

92, Entry 689, “Sketches of Iron Railings, Gates, and Headstones, and Proposals and Specifications Relating to National 

Cemeteries,” Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 1.

27 The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture (1950), s.v. “Maclura.”

28 Office of the Chief Quartermaster, Third District, Department of the East, advertisement for solicitation of bids for 

Osage Orange plants, 29 August 1870, Records of the Quartermaster General, RG 92, Entry 689, box 1.

29 August Miller to Quartermaster General, 30 September 1869; August Miller to Quartermaster General, 31 August 1870; 

August Miller to Henry Hodges, 7 March 1871; Miller, “History of Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 24 April 1871, POGR 

database. 

30 Mr. Chenoweth to B. G. Bingham, 16 December 1873; A. Whitehead to Assistant Quartermaster McGoningle, 30 June 

1874, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

31 Oliver Cox to A. F. Rockwell, 11 August 1875, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

32 Advertisement from unidentified newspaper, Office of the Quartermaster General, “Proposals for Work at National 

Military Cemeteries,” 1 February 1876, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

Site History, 1869-1933
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

92

33 Oliver Cox, “Reports survey of the Poplar Grove Cemetery & encloses plat,” 9 March 1876, Poplar Grove Records, 

NARA I, box 57.

34 Articles of Agreement, 22 May 187, A. F. Rockwell, Assistant Quartermaster Washington District, and John Brennon 

and Archibald L. Hutton of Washington, 22 May 1876, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57; Olsen, 60.

35 James Gall to A. F. Rockwell, Assistant Quartermaster General, 20 September 1876, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 

57.

36 J. Welsey Friend to United States (Farley), 30 April 1877, book 14, page 428; J. Welsey Friend to United States (Flower), 

30 April 1877, book 14, page 429, Dinwiddie County Land Records, reproduced in Olsen, 92-96; Quartermaster Attorney 

General (name illegible), “Endorsement of Addition of Land to Poplar Grove,” 14 May 1877, Poplar Grove Records, NARA 

I, box 57.

37 C. M. Clarke to Quartermaster General, Inspection report for Poplar Grove, 29 March 1879; W. H. Owen, “Report of 

Inspection of Poplar Grove,” 18 April 1885, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

38 “An Act to Establish and to Protect National Cemeteries,” approved February 22, 1867, section 1.

39 Steere, 17; Olsen, 53; drawing of Meigs’ design in RG 92, Entry 689, Sketches of Iron Railings, Gates, and Headstones, 

and Proposals and Specifications Relating to National Cemeteries,” NARA I.

40 Olsen, 55.

41 Petersburg Index and Appeal, 6 July 1877, page 4, column 2; Olsen, 56; H. Y. Smith and W. S. Rann, editors, History of 

Rutland County, Vermont with Illustrations & Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men & Pioneers (Syracuse: D. 

Mason & Co., 1886), “Sheldon & Sons,” 180-191. No information was found on Bridges.

42 James Gall, Jr., to Assistant Quartermaster Rockwell, 7 June 1877, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

43 “River Items,” Petersburg Daily Post, 28 June 1877, page 1, column 2.

44 “The Poplar Grove Cemetery—A Large Contract Completed,” Petersburg Index and Appeal, 6 July 1877, page 4, column 

2; Olsen, 56.

45 “Poplar Grove National Cemetery—Interesting Ceremonies Next Monday,” Petersburg Daily Post, 7 July 1877, page 1, 

column 3.

46 “Poplar Grove Cemetery,” Petersburg Index and Appeal, 10 July 1877, page 4, column 2.

47 Gall to Rockwell, 7 June 1877.

48 August Miller to Quartermaster General, 31 July 1869, Highlights of Superintendent Miller’s Letters, POGR database.

49 August Miller to Captain Carline, Fort Monroe, 28 August 1871, Highlights of Superintendent Miller’s Letters, POGR 

database.

50 Miller, monthly report for August 1872; “Inspection Report for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 7 

August 1874.

51 Oliver Cox, “Report on Poplar Grove,” 31 May 1876, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

52 This border hedge along the edge of the circular drive and walk is documented on the 1892 Quartermaster General plan 

of Poplar Grove.

53 O. A. Mack, “Report of Inspection of the Poplar Grove & City Point National Cemeteries,” 14 January 1876, Poplar 

Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

54 James Gall to Assistant Quartermaster Rockwell, inspection report, 2 May 1878 and 24 October 1878, Poplar Grove 

Records, NARA I, box 57.

55 James Gall to Assistant Quartermaster Rockwell, 24 October 1878, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.
93 

Site History, 1869-1933

56 Major Eckerson to Montgomery Meigs, 6 June 1876, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

57 Mack, “Inspection Report for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 7 August 1874; Mr. Chenoweth 

to General Meigs, 2 April 1874 and 19 May 1874; Quartermaster General’s Office, National Cemetery inspection forms, 

8 January 1889 and 1 March 1909, filled out for Poplar Grove, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57. The 1889 form 

indicates the flagstaff is forty feet high; the 1909 form, fifty-six; the 1909 form contains more detailed measurements for 

other features, and is assumed to be more accurate. No information has been found on the finial of the flagstaff.

58 Mack, “Inspection Report for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 7 August 1874; James Gall, Inspection 

Report of Poplar Grove, 24 October 1878, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57. No photographs of the flowerbeds 

surrounding the flagstaff and gun monuments has been found.

59 A. F. Rockwell, Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, bids for “1,100 Park Settees,” June 1878, RG 92, Entry 689, 

Sketches of Iron Railings, Gates, and Headstones, and Proposals and Specifications Related to National Cemeteries,” 

NARA I, box 1; Fred Bell, photograph of Poplar Grove, 1968, showing remaining settees around the central circle, park 

administration files for Poplar Grove, Petersburg National Battlefield; reference to twenty settees at Poplar Grove, W. 

Owen, Chief Engineer, Quartermasters Office, “Report upon Natl. Cemetery Poplar Grove VA,” 2 May 1888, Poplar Grove 

Records, NARA I, box 57. The same settees are shown in a c.1902 photograph of Cold Harbor National Cemetery, online at 

www.alexandria.lib.va.us/.../images/011.jpg.

60 Office of the Quartermaster General, Regulations for the Government of National Cemeteries (1911), 17.

61 No photographs have been found of the flowerbeds at Poplar Grove. 

62 August Miller, unidentified letter, 31 May 1870, Highlights of Superintendent Miller’s Letters, POGR database.

63 The boxwood Maltese cross is first documented the 1892 Quartermaster General plan of Poplar Grove, and is 

shown on the 1931 Quartermaster General “Tree Planting Layout” plan. The Maltese cross bed in subsequent years was 

maintained as a boxwood hedge—the boxwood probably remaining from the edging of the flowerbed.

64 Mack, “Inspection Report for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 7 August 1874. The fruit trees along 

the walk near the turn-around were documented in W. H Owen, “Report of Inspection of Poplar Grove,” 18 April 1885. 

Owen reported that some of the fruit trees were “...planted by the soldiers in 1864,” but given the alignment of the trees 

along the c.1872 walk and lack of any earlier documentation, this seems unlikely.

65 Mack, “Inspection Report for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 14 January 1876.

66 Miller, “History of Poplar Grove National Cemetery,” 24 April 1871. 

67 Olsen, 57; Listing of trees and shrubs received from Major Henry G. Hodges, 4 January 1871, Highlights of 

Superintendent Miller’s Letters, POGR database; August Miller, Monthly reports for April 1871 and August 1872, Poplar 

Grove Records, NARA I, box 57. No plan was found for the 1871 tree-planting program.

68 Olsen, 57-58; comparison of 1892 Quartermaster and 1937 National Park Service plans of Poplar Grove showing 

remaining elms and boxwood shrubs along the east-west walk. No plans of the sylvan hall have been found; most of the 

elms were apparently removed by the time the 1892 plan was drawn. 

69 “Inspection Report for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 7 August 1874; Hodges, 4 January 1871, 

Highlights of Superintendent Miller’s Letters, POGR database; 1892 Quartermaster General plan. 

70 Mack, “Inspection Report for Poplar Grove and City Point National Cemeteries,” 14 January 1876.

71 James Gall to Assistant Quartermaster Rockwell, inspection report for Poplar Grove, 2 May 1878, Poplar Grove 

Records, NARA I, box 57.

72 James Gall, Inspection Report for Poplar Grove, 22 May 1881, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

73 James Gall, Inspection Report for Poplar Grove, 16 March 1882, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

74 History of the Bivouac of the Dead tablets, http://www.cem/va/gov/cem/hist/bivouac.asp. It is not known if Poplar 

Grove had the earlier wooden signs. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

94

75 Two surviving tablets were examined at Culpeper National Cemetery in Culpeper, Virginia. These tablets have a 

foundry mark on the back by the Rock Island Arsenal dated 1881.

76 The tablets were documented in a Quartermaster General questionnaire dated March 1, 1909 that was filled out 

by Superintendent George Hess, and on the 1892 Quartermaster General survey of Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

(blueprint) annotated in 1909 with red ink, located in Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57. The Bivouac of the Dead 

poem has a total of twenty-four four-line verses. The Poplar Grove tablets were removed in c.1957 and today are in storage 

in the loft of the cemetery garage.

77 Book of national cemetery plans by the Quartermaster General, 1892-93, Records of the Quartermaster General, RG 

92, Entry 691, NARA I. The plans did not document the location of smaller features such as flowerbeds, tablets, and settees. 

Although well detailed, the Poplar Grove plan may lack accuracy. For example, the main gate is shown as having two sets of 

piers instead of four. 

78 Dr. Steven E. Anders, “With All Due Honors: A History of the Quartermaster Graves Registration Mission,” 

Quartermaster Professional Bulletin (September 1988), transcript, Petersburg National Battlefield; Poplar Grove NPS War 

Department Records, NARA I, box 51. 

79 Poplar Grove burial register; Jennifer Perunko, Historian, National Cemetery Administration, comments on draft 

cultural landscape report, 8 June 2009. 

80 Olsen, 62.

81 W. Owen, Quartermaster Genera’s Office, “Report Upon Natl. Cemetery Poplar Grove VA,” 2 May 1888. Owen 

reported: “There is considerable driving in this Cemetery & ruts are worn in the main drive from gate to flagstaff...”

82 David Merchant, “Memorial Day” website, “History” page, http://www.usmemorialday.org/.

83 Department of Veterans Affairs, webpages for individual national cemeteries, http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems. 

84 Olsen, 87; Lieutenant Colonel O. A. Mack, Report of Inspection of the Poplar Grove & City Point National 

Cemeteries,” 14 January 1876, Poplar Grove Records, NARA I, box 57.

85 Sammartino, National Register documentation, Section E, pages 10-11.

86 Olsen, 62. No information has been found on the manufacturer or builder of the rostrum. The rostrum at Yorktown no 

longer stands, and only the base of the one at Richmond National Cemetery remains today. 

87 Office of the Quartermaster General, Regulations for the Government of National Cemeteries (1911), 4.

88 Owen, inspection report, 18 April 1885.

89 Owen, inspection report, 2 May 1888.

90 The 1892 Quartermaster plan of Poplar Grove, together with the 1931 Quartermaster and 1937 NPS planting plans 

show scattered American elms along the east-west walk. While the 1892 plan does not indicate tree species, it does not 

show the presence of an allee in the shape of a cross.

91 Owen, inspection reports, 18 April 1885 and 2 May 1888.

92 Owen, inspection reports, 18 April 1885 and 2 May 1888.

93 Major P. W. West, “Report of an Inspection of the National Cemetery Poplar Grove, Va.,” 21 June 1901, Records of 

the Inspector General, NARA I, no box # (1901 inspection reports); Major W. T. Wood, “Report of an Inspection of the 

National Cemetery Poplar Grove, Va.,” 6 May 1904, Records of the Inspector General, NARA I, box 77; Superintendent 

George Hess, completion of inspection form prepared by E. H Humphrey, Captain and Quartermaster, 1 March 1909, 

Records of the Inspector General, NARA I, box 576.

94 Lieutenant Colonel W. C. Brown, Poplar Grove inspection report, 11 December 1912, Records of the Inspector 

General, NARA I, box 155; Set of Poplar Grove building record sheets (plans), 1923, Poplar Grove NPS War Department 

Records, NARA II, box 50. 
95 

Site History, 1869-1933

95 Poplar Grove building records, 1923; Brown, inspection report, 11 December 1912; 1892 Quartermaster plan of Poplar 

Grove, annotated to 1909; Superintendent Hess, Quartermaster questionnaire form, 1 March 1909. The cave is shown as an 

annotation on the original 1892 plan. 

96 Owen, inspection report, 2 May 1888.

97 Olsen, 63; J. McClintock, Major, Quartermaster Corps, Inspection of Poplar Grove and Richmond National 

Cemeteries, 16 July 1928, Quartermaster Correspondence 1922-1935, NARA II, box 1773. 

98 Office of the Quartermaster General, Regulations for the Government of National Cemeteries (1911), 17; McClintock, 

Inspection of Poplar Grove and Richmond National Cemeteries, 1928. McClintock called for the removal of the flagstaff 

mound at Richmond, but did not mention a mound at Poplar Grove, indicating it no longer existed. 

99 Date of tornado cited in Charles E. Shevline, National Park Service Forester to Chief Forester, Office of National Parks, 

Buildings, and Reservations, 13 February 1934, Poplar Grove NPS War Department Records, NARA II, box 2704; James 

Bodley, Superintendent Poplar Grove to Depot Quartermaster, 25 August 1915, Quartermaster Correspondence 1922-

1935, NARA II, box 1773.

100 Unattributed memorandum to Depot Quartermaster, 21 August 1916, Quartermaster Correspondence 1922-1935, 

NARA II, box 1773. The Murray marker was a tall slab stone with the inscription: “Green be the turf above thee/Friend of 

my early days/None knew thee but to love thee/None named thee but to praise.”

101 Major Allen Kimberly, Poplar Grove inspection report, Records of the Inspector General, NARA II, box 294.

102 Camp Lee was decommissioned in 1920 and turned over to the Commonwealth of Virginia as a wildlife preserve. 

“This Week in Quartermaster History, 25 November-1 December,” http://www.qmmuseum.lee.arm.mil/historyweek/

Nov25-1Dec.htm.

103 Lee A. Wallace, “A History of Petersburg National Battlefield to 1956” (Unpublished report, National Park Service, 

1957), 66-67, 76, 85.

104 Major Robert Goetz, Inspector General’s Office, Survey of Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 18 May 1928, RG 92, 

Entry 1891, Office of the Quartermaster General, Correspondence, Geographic File, 1922-1935, (hereafter, “Quartermaster 

Correspondence 1922-1935”), NARA II, box 1773.

105 Poplar Grove burial register.

106 Poplar Grove Quarterly Report for the period ending June 30, 1929, Poplar Grove NPS War Department Records, 

NARA II, box 50. Visitation was noted inconsistently on the quarterly report forms (beginning in 1920s). 

107 Memorandum, Colonel J. T. Conrad, Adjutant General, Quartermaster General’s Office, 27 April 1931, Quartermaster 

Correspondence 1922-1935, NARA II, box 1773.

108 Office of the Quartermaster General, “Report of Repairs Required at Poplar Grove National Cemetery” (unattributed 

report), February 1925, Quartermaster Correspondence 1922-1935, NARA II, box 1773.

109 H. L. Ward to Quartermaster General, 27 April 1927, Quartermaster Correspondence 1922-1935, NARA II, box 1773.

110 H. L. Ward, Quartermaster Corps, to Quartermaster General, 28 May 1928, Quartermaster Correspondence 1922-

1935, NARA II, box 1773.

111 Quarterly Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery, period ending June 30, 1931, Poplar Grove NPS War 

Department Records, NARA II, box 50.

112 Poplar Grove building records, 1923 updated to 1933; Gwynne Conrad, Quartermaster Corps, to Quartermaster 

General, 3 October 1929, Poplar Grove NPS War Department Records, NARA II, box 50.

113 A. B. Kaempfer, Corps Area Inspector General, to Commanding General, 28 October 1931, referencing inspection 

of Poplar Grove made on 1 September 1931, Records of the Inspector General, NARA II, box 1773. Any portions of the 

flagstaff mound that may have remained following its reduction in 1913 were removed and the circle around the flagstaff 

was made level.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

96

114 John T. Harris, Quartermaster Corps Assistant, to Quartermaster General, 14 May 1931; Headquarters Third Corps 

Area, “Specifications for Materials and Labor for Planting Trees at Poplar Grove National Cemetery, April 3, 1931;” 

miscellaneous notes and contracts in bound letters, “Poplar Grove Care of Trees, Etc.,” Poplar Grove NPS War Department 

Records, NARA II, box 50. The tree stock was specified at heights ranging from 3 to 12 feet, and calipers from 1 to 1.5 

inches. 

115 Robert Goetz, Survey of Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 18 May 1928, Memorandum from Quartermaster Office, 17 

September 1928, and Gwynne Conrad, Quartermaster Corps, to Quartermaster Supply Officer, 7 September 1928, Records 

of the Inspector General, NARA II, box 1773.

116 Certification of Vernon J. Cowing by W. H. Shaw, Civil Engineer, Headquarters Third Corps Area, 9 July 1931, Poplar 

Grove NPS War Department Records, NARA II, box 51, binder “Walks, Roads, Etc;” “Specifications for the Reconstruction 

of the Drives in Poplar Grove National Cemetery,” 10 April 1931, Quartermaster Correspondence 1922-1935, NARA II, 

box 1773.

117 E. J. Heller, Captain, Quartermaster Corps, to Commanding General Third Corps Area, 6 November 1931, Inspector 

General Records, NARA II, box 1773. In November 1931, steps were being taken to dispose of the cemetery horse. No 

information was found on the size or type of mower.

118 Unattributed report by Inspector General forester, “Poplar Grove (P. O. Petersburg) VA,” 25 February 1932, Inspector 

General Records, NARA II, box 1773.

119 Superintendent Walter Pearce, quarterly report ending March 31, 1932, Poplar Grove NPS War Department Records, 

NARA II, box 50.

120 Poplar Grove, Quarterly Report for period ending March 31, 1933, Poplar Grove NPS War Department Records, 

NARA II, box 50.
160

160

170

170

170

170

170

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170 Vaughan Road

Sign at entrance

Barbed-wire

fence (1911)

Field

Blaha Farm

20’ wide right of way

through private property

Roadside trees

(1879, 1882, 1931)

Ash, elm, linden, 

maple, white poplar

Asphalt pavement

(1931) 

Replaced gravel surface 

(1878)

matchline

Gate

(1876)

Field Farm cross road

(c.1911)

Approach Road

Field

Site of original

inclosing fence

(1866-c.1869)

Blaha Farm 

(Former Flower Farm)

low area

Drive filled with 

graves (1896-1918)

Brick inclosure wall (1876)

Along site of perimeter fence

(1866-c.1876)

Site of frame shed (c.1925-c.1929)

Site of feed room addition (c.1915-c.1929)

Site of brick toolshed-stable/barn (1879-c.1929)

Site of frame forage shed (c.1879-c.1915)

 

Stone-post boundary 

markers at corners (1877) (typ.)

Iron flagstaff with guy wires

(1930)

Replaced iron flagstaff (1913),

 wooden flagstaffs (1866, 1874) 

Marble gravemarkers (1877)

headstones and blocks

Replaced painted wood 

headboards (1866-1877)

Site of flagstaff mound 

(1866-c.1913)

10-foot buffer strip 

(1877)

See INSET

INSET

matchline

Barbed-wire fence 

(c.1911)

Gate

(1876)

Cow pasture

Field

Open for truck access

Wagon road

Grove of aspen here

Loblolly pine woods

Loblolly 

pine

woods

Open for truck access

Well-house

(c.1871)

Lodge 

(1871-72)

Rostrum 

(1897)

Boxwood allee

(c.1871) 

Site of Osage orange

perimeter hedge

(1871-c.1888)

Site of brick kitchen

(c.1879-c.1929)

English ivy on inside 

of brick walls

(c.1888)

Approx. site of hedgeenclosed garden and chicken

yard maintained by

Superintedent

(pre-1902)

Site of privy

(c.1905-c.1929)

Service yard

(c.1869)

Site of the Cave 

(c.1900-c.1929)

Site of turn-around

(c.1872-c.1900)

Asphalt pavement

(1931)

Replaced gravel

surface (c.1900),

grass surface (c.1874),

and gravel surface (c.1866)

Irregular boundaries result of 

inaccurate original (c.1868) 

boundary survey

Irregular boundaries a result of 

inaccurate original (c.1868) 

boundary survey

10’ buffer strip added

around cemetery

(1877)

Site of lodge

cellar hole (1870) Site of

first lodge

(1867-c.1872)

Barn, chicken houses

Visible from cemetery

Loblolly pine woods

Ditch (c.1869)

Blaha Farm 

(Former Flower Farm)

Site of kitchen wing

(relocated first lodge)

 (1872-c.1879)

Approximate location

“sylvan hall” of

American elms 

(1871-c.1890)

Iron tablets

(c.1881)

Down-slope

Public restroom

building (1929)

New kitchen wing

(1914)

Gravel surface of 

drives covered

with grass 

(c.1872-1874)

Brick gutters filled

(1877)

Site of 

lattice fence

(c.1873-c.1888)

Stable-Garage

 (1929)

Grape arbor

(c.1872)

Settee, typ.

(c.1878)

Main drive

Maltese cross

hedge (c.1872)

Site of border hedge

along walk & turnaround

(c.1872-1929)

Walk

Drive partially filled 

with graves (1919-1933)

Concrete curb

(1931)

New row of graves 

 (1918-1929)

Blaha Farm 

Blaha Farm 

Former Farley Farm 

Concrete walk

(1929)

0’ 150’ 300’

Site of brick and earth 

walks (c.1872-1929)

Septic field (1929)

A-a A-b

A-d A-c

A-e A-f

B-a

B-b

B-c

B-d

B-e

B-f

B-g

B-h

C-b C-a

C-c C-d

C-e

C-f

C-g

C-h

D-a

D-b

D-c

D-d

D-f

D-e

D-g

E

F

Specimen Tree Key 

c Cedar (Eastern red-cedar)

e Elm

g Sweet gum

h Holly

hc Horsechestnut

he Hemlock

lp Loblolly pine

m Maple (sugar or red)

ma Magnolia

pl Plum

pe Peach

po Poplar (white poplar)

Tablet Key

M General Orders No. 80, Sept. 1, 1875 (1)

N Act to Establish and Protect National 

 Cemeteries, February 22, 1867 (4)

O Four-line verses from 

 “The Bivouac of the Dead” (10) 

P “Visitors Notice, Invitation to Register” (1)

e

lp

lp

lp lp

pl pl

pl pl

pl

e

ma ma

e

hc

ma

Arborvitae

hedge, 8’ (c.1888)

pe

e e e

e e

e

e

wo m

m m

h

lp

e

c

lp

lp

lp

lp

h

h

lp

lp

lp

lp lp

g

m

he

m

m

?

lp

lp

lp

c

m

m

e

po

e

e

e

lp lp lp lp

lp

lp

lp

wc

s Spruce (Norway spruce)

wo Water oak

wio Willow oak

wc White cedar

Notes:

Species of existing and removed trees indicated 

 where known.

All shrubs are boxwood except where noted.

Non-keyed (smallest) trees indicate 1931 plantings: 

 European mountain ash, pin oak, Norway spruce, 

 Austrian pine, holly, elm, linden, and Norway maple.

Drawing 1.3

NOTES

wellhead

 (c.1974)

B-g

Removed during period

Property line

Inclosure (perimeter) wall

Grave markers (black dash = added grave)

Cemetery division-section 

Building

Road 

Walk

Iron tablet, key reference

Gun monument

Settee

Fence

Conifer tree 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

Lawn

Naturalized English ivy

10' contour 

Drainage through inclosure wall

Wetland 

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

War Department Period 

1869-1933

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

SOURCES

1. PETE GIS Data

2. Illustrated plan of Poplar Grove, QMG,1892

3. Quartermaster tree planting plan, 1931

4. NPS master plan, c.1941, planting plan,1937

6. Burial Location Plan, NPS, c.1957.

LEGEND

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter, Illustrator CS3, 2009

0’ 25’ 50’ 75’ 100’

O

1. Plan represents landscape conditions in 1933, showing features removed during the period by dashed lines.

2. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

3. There were nine settees in 1929; locations not known.

99 

Site History, 1933-Present

National Park Service period, 1933-Present

The 1933 transfer of Poplar Grove National Cemetery to civilian administration 

under the National Park Service was part of broad New Deal government 

restructuring. With the end of military administration, the cemetery came under 

the park service’s mission to conserve natural and historic resources for public 

benefit. Aside from work done on the grave markers and plantings in the 1930s, 

however, the landscape of Poplar Grove National Cemetery during this period 

declined both in condition and historic character. While the park service planned 

numerous improvement projects over the years, few were implemented since the 

War Department’s work completed between 1929 and 1933. Plans currently being 

deloped seek to reverse this record. 

Through the 1930s, the setting of Poplar Grove remained predominantly rural, 

largely unchanged since the founding of the cemetery eight decades earlier. 

Increasing automobile ownership during this time was evident in the development 

of park roads along the siege lines and improvement of Vaughan Road into 

State Route 675. Suburban development around the fringes of Petersburg had 

begun after World War I, but by the time of World War II had not extended 

far from the city limits (fig. 1.64). 

The major physical changes in 

the region occurred mostly in the 

decades following World War II 

as the city center declined and 

suburban development reached into 

the countryside. During this time, 

Dinwiddie County and Petersburg, 

together with Hopewell and Colonial 

Heights, were incorporated into 

the Richmond Metropolitan Area, 

linked by the Richmond & Petersburg 

Turnpike (later Interstates 95 and 

86), completed by 1952.1

 To retain 

development that was occurring 

outside of its historic limits, the City 

of Petersburg extended its municipal 

boundaries south to Flank Road in 

1964, approximately a quarter mile 

north of the cemetery. Despite this, 

suburban growth still extended into 

Dinwiddie County, with houses often 

developed in strips along existing 

Figure 1.64: Roads and 

development in the region 

surrounding Poplar Grove, 1946. 

Vaughan Road is shown as Route 

675. This map does not show 

Petersburg National Battlefield 

lands. (USGS Petersburg 15 

minutes series quadrangle, 1946, 

surveyed in 1941, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

100

roads, including Vaughan Road (fig. 1.65). Several large 

industrial plants were built north of the cemetery, and in 1970, 

the Collier Yard was enlarged on the Atlantic Coast (former 

Weldon & Petersburg) Railroad located east of the cemetery. 

Despite this development over the past four decades, the area 

immediately surrounding Poplar Grove retained large tracts 

of wooded land and farms growing crops such as soybeans, 

grapes, and hay. 

early National park service stewardship, 1933-

1949

The National Park Service was created in 1916 to “promote 

and regulate the use of Federal areas known as national parks, 

monuments, and reservations”—mostly big national parks in 

the West—with a purpose to “conserve the scenery and natural 

and historic objects and the wild life therein, and to provide 

for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such 

means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”2

In its expanded role as steward of national cemeteries beginning in the 1930s, the 

National Park Service was embarking on administration of a new type of resource. 

Although Poplar Grove still shared the same issues common to its sister national 

cemeteries that remained in the War Department, the National Park Service 

took a different approach to management of the landscape, initially emphasizing 

natural characteristics found in the big national parks. 

Administration and Use

On June 10, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 

6166, which called for an extensive reorganization of Executive Agencies. Section 

2 of this order specified the transfer and consolidation of all functions of military 

parks and national cemeteries under the War Department to the Department of 

the Interior for management by the National Park Service. The list of parks and 

cemeteries to be transferred, including Petersburg National Military Park and 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, was approved on July 28, 1933 under Executive 

Order No. 6228. Only eleven national cemeteries were transferred; those deemed 

desirable to the mission of the War Department were not.3

 Cemeteries selected 

for transfer were considered to be more significant for their history than for 

their use as active burial grounds, and were located near national park units, 

usually battlefields. Transferred cemeteries in the mid-Atlantic region included 

Fredericksburg, as part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields 

Memorial National Military Park; Yorktown, as part of Colonial National 

Monument; and Gettysburg, as part of Gettysburg National Military Park.4

Figure 1.65: Roads and 

development in area surrounding 

Poplar Grove, 1994. Note 

numerous suburban houses built 

since World War II along nearby 

roads. (Detail, U.S.G.S. aerial 

photograph, 1994, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.) 
101 

Despite the administrative transfer, the National Park Service was still responsible 

for adhering to national cemetery legislation and regulations. 

Given its lack of experience with national cemeteries, the National Park Service 

maintained contact, at least initially, with the War Department on cemeterial 

issues.5

 The agency also continued to have cemetery superintendents complete 

the standardized Quartermaster General quarterly report through the 1930s.6

However, biannual inspections of Poplar Grove by the Office of the Inspector 

General in the War Department ceased with the administrative transfer in 1933.7

The National Park Service apparently maintained no formal system of regular 

outside inspections for the national cemeteries to address physical conditions, and 

there is no record of the War Department intervening in park service management 

of Poplar Grove during this time.8

The administrative transfer of Petersburg National Military Park and Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery took effect on August 10, 1933. Both the park and 

cemetery were placed under the temporary administration of Colonial National 

Monument, located in the vicinity of Williamsburg approximately sixty miles to 

the east near the Chesapeake Bay. Established in 1930 under National Park Service 

administration, Colonial National Monument (later renamed Colonial National 

Historical Park) preserved colonial-era sites, including the Revolutionary War 

battlefield at Yorktown, which surrounded the Civil War-era Yorktown National 

Cemetery, and the Jamestown settlement site. The relationship with Petersburg 

was probably created for two reasons: first, because Colonial National Monument 

was the closest pre-existing park unit to Petersburg; and second, because Colonial 

also administered Yorktown National Cemetery, which had been transferred from 

the War Department at the same time as Poplar Grove. 9

 Poplar Grove remained 

under the administration of Colonial’s Acting Superintendent B. Floyd Flickinger 

until December 1935, when administration was transferred to Petersburg National 

Military Park, which had been supplied with its first superintendent the previous 

September. 10 Poplar Grove retained its own superintendent, who reported to 

the park superintendent but also retained some autonomy. On September 5, 

1933, Benjamin F. Moore was appointed the first cemetery superintendent under 

the National Park Service. As with War Department cemetery superintendents, 

Moore continued to be responsible for maintenance, cemetery staff, the burial 

record, and reporting.11

Although the significance of Poplar Grove to the rest of park was its association 

with the Civil War, the cemetery remained open to new burials of veterans of 

other wars. Burials continued in the earlier pattern of one or two per year with a 

few exceptions. Between 1933 and 1949, nineteen new graves were dug, with 1940 

the most active year when there were five new burials.12

Site History, 1933-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

102

In contrast to the 

burial rate, visitation 

to Poplar Grove rose 

dramatically, with ten 

times the number of 

visitors during the mid1930s as there were in 

the late 1920s. For the 

fiscal year from October 

1934 to September 

1935, 1,675 visitors were 

reported, in contrast 

to the 142 visitors recorded during the fiscal year of 1928-1929.13 This increase 

in visitation was most likely a result of increases in park visitation to the federal 

fortifications south and west of Petersburg that were linked by Flank Road, which 

was completed to Halifax Road and Fort Wadsworth in 1934.14 Poplar Grove 

was identified as a stop on the tour, but visitors had to drive north on Halifax 

Road and then south on Vaughan Road to reach the cemetery. It was not until the 

completion of the Flank Road railroad underpass and extension of Flank Road to 

Vaughan Road in 1944 that the cemetery had a relatively direct connection to the 

route of the Siege Line Tour (fig. 1.66).

During the first eight years of National Park Service administration, Poplar Grove 

and Petersburg National Military Park enjoyed an ample workforce made possible 

through New Deal federal work-relief programs that addressed conservation and 

park development needs. Most of this labor was supplied through the Emergency 

Conservation Work (ECW) agency created on March 31, 1933, which carried out 

its work by a labor force called the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC, 

whose name was later adopted for the ECW agency, was charged with “restoration 

of the country’s depleted natural resources...”15 CCC camps were established 

at many national parks across the country, with the biggest parks often having 

six or seven camps. Petersburg National Military Park, still in its initial stages of 

development, was provided with one CCC camp. In July 1933, CCC Company 

1364, consisting of approximately 173 enrollees, arrived from Camp Meade, 

Maryland, and established Camp MP-2 (MP = Military Park) near Fort Stedman 

within the main tract of the park east of Petersburg. In 1939, the CCC began to 

convert itself for defense work and the Petersburg CCC camp (redesignated as 

Camp VA NP (D)-3) was closed in July 1942. During its seven years at Petersburg, 

the CCC worked on such tasks as planting trees, clearing underbrush and 

stabilizing earthen fortifications, general maintenance, building park roads and 

trails, and maintaining Poplar Grove. In the vicinity of the national cemetery, the 

Figure 1.66: Detail of a 1951 

tour map of Petersburg 

National Battlefield showing 

the relationship of Poplar Grove 

(stop #24) to the Siege Line Tour 

(Flank Road). Areas in gray are 

lands of Petersburg National 

Battlefield. The portion of 

Flank Road west of Vaughan 

Road was not built until the 

1960s. (Richard Wayne Lykes, 

Petersburg Battlefield, National 

Park Service Historical Handbook 

Series 13, 1951). 
103 

CCC built Flank Road, and in the Federal Left Flank cleared underbrush from 

Fort Fisher and planted grass on Fort Welch, among many other projects.16

On September 18, 1933, Colonial Superintendent Flickinger wrote to Poplar 

Grove Superintendent Moore, “As I told you the day I was at your Cemetery, 

Mr. Colston [superintendent of the CCC camp] told me that he would be glad 

to furnish you with a detail of Conservation boys to help you with the clean-up 

work at your Cemetery...”17 That fall, a CCC crew of five worked one day per 

week at Poplar Grove. Over the life of the CCC camp at Petersburg, a crew of 

between three and five men worked at Poplar Grove at various times during each 

month, with the schedule dependent on the season and whether there were any 

major projects underway. With this labor force, funded outside of the cemetery 

appropriation, the only regular employee maintained at Poplar Grove was the 

superintendent.18 In addition to the assistance of the CCC, the cemetery also 

benefited from the system-wide resources of the National Park Service, such as 

the Branch of Plans and Designs, which developed a master plan for the cemetery 

between 1937 and 1941.

As was characteristic at most National Park System units, maintenance and 

funding declined at Poplar Grove during World War II, following the termination 

of the CCC program and through the post-war years into the late 1940s. 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery retained its own superintendent and funding 

appropriation until 1949.19

Maintenance and Transformation of the Grave Markers

Upon its transfer to the National Park Service in 1933, Poplar Grove was in overall 

good condition because of the War Department improvements made during 

the previous five years. In his first quarterly report to the National Park Service, 

cemetery superintendent Benjamin Moore described his work during the month 

of September 1933: “Cutting out 18-inch border at roots of ivy (on inclosure 

wall), trimming ivy and shrubbery, removing obstructions from drains, cutting 

grass and working flowerbeds.”20 None of this reflected any unusual or pressing 

problems. As park service personnel began to inspect the cemetery in the ensuing 

months, however, they identified a number of problems. The first addressed was 

tree work. In February 1934, CCC crews removed seven large elms, one maple, 

and one linden. A report to the Chief Forester of the National Park Service during 

this same month identified that the majority of the trees in the cemetery were in 

poor condition and that a large percentage would continue to be lost annually. It 

found the elms doing poorly and recommended that none be planted in the future 

(the report did not mention the discovery of Dutch elm disease in Ohio four 

years earlier). The report also recommended a program of feeding, pruning, and 

spraying, and new plantings.21

Site History, 1933-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

104

The second major problem initially identified by park administrators was 

maintenance of the grave markers and the lawn. Park administrators apparently 

felt that the significant amount of labor required for mowing the eight acres 

of cemetery lawn and trimming around the nearly 5,600 grave markers was a 

problem, despite advances provided by a power mower acquired just two years 

earlier in 1931 and the availability of CCC crews. With a new superintendent 

and a new agency, there was no institutional memory with which to judge the 

relative effort needed to mow the lawn. In addition to the mowing, there was also 

completion of the grave marker cleaning and alignment work that had begun in 

1932.22

Instead of completing this work, the National Park Service decided to pursue 

a much different treatment—to convert the headstones and blocks into flat 

markers, a plan developed out of aesthetic and maintenance concerns. Park 

service managers believed that conversion to flat markers would ease maintenance 

because the power mower could simply ride over the markers; aesthetically, 

they believed the change would improve the appearance of what had become, at 

least administratively, a park landscape. During the 1930s, National Park Service 

designers and planners generally emphasized harmonizing built features with 

the natural landscape, an effort coined “landscape naturalization.” 23 While the 

natural and rural character of the battlefields fit this aesthetic, the geometric 

design and Victorian details of the national cemeteries generally did not. In 

addition, the landscape design of Poplar Grove—then less than sixty years old 

and from the Victorian era not widely appreciated at the time—would not have 

been something the park service recognized as having historic significance and 

therefore worthy of preservation.24 

The park service’s concerns over maintenance and aesthetics with the old grave 

markers were not strictly an internal agency issue. Older cemeteries across the 

country were exploring ways to modernize and adapt to the popular lawn style 

of cemetery design. In the June 1925 edition of the journal Park and Cemetery, 

an article appeared on addressing problems associated with old-fashioned 

headstones that often leaned out of alignment. The article cited a solution 

employed at Greenwood Cemetery, a rural cemetery in Rockford, Illinois, in 

which the headstones were taken off their plinths (bases) and reset in the ground. 

According to the author, “With their neatly kept turf, the flat stones make a very 

presentable appearance as ledger memorials” (fig. 1.67).25 Another article on the 

subject appeared in the July 1931 edition of Park and Cemetery, citing the same 

benefits, as well as the “very greatly reduced” costs of lawn maintenance made 

possible when headstones are reset at lawn level.26 Whether park service staff 

were aware of these articles is not known. The War Department had not, however, 
105 

adopted this approach toward the 

maintenance of its national cemeteries. 

Planning for the alteration of the 

Poplar Grove grave markers traces 

back to October 1933, when Colonial 

Acting Superintendent Flickinger 

received word from Arthur E. Demaray, 

Associate Director of the National 

Park Service, that “As far as funds 

are available, improvements in both 

Yorktown and Poplar Grove National 

Cemeteries should be made...We 

hope that you will give this matter your 

prompt attention.”27 Yorktown was 

similar to Poplar Grove but smaller, 

with the standard features including 

a brick inclosure wall, white marble 

headstones and blocks, an iron 

rostrum, a tall central flagstaff, and a 

Meigs-style lodge. Associate Director 

Demaray mentioned specific work 

needed on the Yorktown rostrum, 

utility building, and flagstaff. Within 

a few months of Demaray’s October 

1933 letter, the park service had 

planned a far more extensive change 

at Yorktown. As that cemetery’s 

superintendent reported: “All headstones and square block markers are being 

set flush with the surface of ground as a maintenance economy.”28 The project 

required cutting off the subsurface portion of the headstones. 

The aesthetic reasons for transforming the Yorktown grave markers was evident 

in the park service’s treatment of other built features in the national cemetery. 

In December 1933, Superintendent Flickinger recommended removal of the 

Victorian iron rostrum at Yorktown, which he reported was “a foreign note in 

the landscape.”29 The landscape that Flickinger was referring to was probably 

not the cemetery alone, but also the park’s surrounding Revolutionary War-era 

battlefields. The National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs concurred 

with Flickinger’s recommendation and the rostrum was removed in c.1934. If the 

rostrum was a foreign element in the landscape, the park service must certainly 

have also considered the marble grave markers foreign as well.30

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.67: Article showing 

practice of resetting tablet 

headstones as flat markers. (Park 

and Cemetery, June 1925.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

106

With the improvement work underway at Yorktown, Superintendent Flickinger 

turned to Poplar Grove to implement the same changes to the grave markers. For 

an unknown reason, he left the rostrum standing. In January 1934, Flickinger 

contacted the War Department for its concurrence on the project. On January 16, 

1934, he received the following telegram from Hillory A. Tolson in the Assistant 

Director’s Office of the National Park Service: “[To] Mr. B. Floyd Flickinger, 

Supt. Colonial National Monument, Yorktown, Virginia. Retel 15h stop War 

Department advises satisfactory lower headstones stop If done expense this office. 

Tolson.”31

During February and March of 1934, CCC crews sunk Poplar Grove’s 3,355 

blocks and transformed the approximately 2,320 headstones into flat markers, 

laying the above-ground sections flush in the ground as ledger stones.32 The 

CCC crews cut or broke off the headstone bases, often leaving jagged edges, 

and simply dug the upper sections into the ground rather than setting them on a 

firm footing. Unlike the larger headstones illustrated in Park and Cemetery, the 

small government headstones and even smaller blocks were inconspicuous in 

the lawn as flat markers, creating a dramatic change to the landscape that made 

the cemetery’s circular plan largely invisible (fig. 1.68). CCC crews temporarily 

stacked the cut-off headstone bases in the cemetery, and in the following summer 

the park sold them to local resident Oswald E. Young, who purchased the twofoot slabs for $45 to construct a house nearby. (The Tombstone House, as it is 

known locally, was featured during the 1930s in Ripley’s Believe it or Not.)33

As with Yorktown, the change to Poplar Grove’s grave markers was done both for 

reasons of maintenance economy and for aesthetics—to create a more park-like 

appearance to the landscape.34 While the project was apparently not well planned 

or documented, its underlying reasons came out in ensuing years in response 

to heated public criticism. In November 1935—on the eve of the cemetery’s 

administrative transfer from Colonial National Monument to Petersburg National 

Military Park—cemetery superintendent Moore recounted the public’s criticism 

directly to National Park Service Director Arno Cammerer: 

There is no written complaint of record in this cemetery, but there has [sic] 

been many verbal expressions from tourists and visitors to the cemetery 

for the past year relative to two important features, namely, the section 

of unimproved road leading to the cemetery [Vaughan Road]; and to the 

present horizontal position of the headstones...People who have visited 

here frequently during the past years remark that when the stones were 

in an upright position arranged with uniformity in circles around the 

flagstaff there was an attractiveness and beauty of the grounds which is 
107 

lost in the present position of the stones. Many of the more than sixteen 

hundred visitors to the cemetery during the past year have expressed 

themselves in various ways on this subject. Some were disappointed in not 

being able to get a picture of the grave and headstone of their relative, due 

to the stone being lowered. One party expressed regret that the stones could 

not have been left standing at least during the life of the present generation. 

An elderly school teacher in the community who had brought her pupils 

on each Memorial Day and decorated the graves for years past expressed 

deep regret at the change in the stones. Another lady said that for this same 

reason she did not desire her veteran husband interred here. Numerous 

other expressions included the opinion that the sentimental appeal of the 

upright headstones will be hard to overcome.35

Criticism from the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, based in 

Washington, D. C., reflected the public’s perception that the National Park Service 

was changing the historic character of its national cemeteries to make them 

conform to park standards. In a 1937 complaint to her Congressman, Daughter 

Dorothea Dix Tent wrote: 

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.68: A 1939 photograph 

looking northeast toward the 

flagstaff from the rostrum showing 

the change in character with 

conversion of the headstones and 

blocks into flat markers. Several of 

the markers are visible at the lower 

right. Note the remaining tablets 

and gun monuments. (Copyright 

The Library of Virginia, from 

Virginia Room Exhibit at the 1939 

World’s Fair, image /WF/05/06/017.

jpg.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

108

Also, since the National Cemeteries, in which repose many thousands 

of our heroic dead have been taken from the jurisdiction of the War 

Department and transferred to the Interior Department along with the 

National Parks (military parks), are being made into parks. One, Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia, has already been denuded 

of all the grave markers...and the cemetery is now literally a park. We are 

also asking you to use your influence against destroying these National 

Cemeteries where sleep the Nation’s Honored Dead.36

The Congressman in turn asked Director Cammerer to address the complaint. 

In his response, Cammerer confirmed not only that the stones had been leveled 

for maintenance reasons, but that indeed they had also been leveled for aesthetic 

purposes: 

...Headstones have not been removed from the graves; they have simply 

been placed in a horizontal position flush with the ground. This was done 

for a dual purpose: to improve the appearance of the cemetery and to 

facilitate neat grass cutting. We feel that the result is very satisfactory.37

While the conversion to flat markers may have improved the appearance of 

the landscape in the eyes of some park officials, the project in the end did little 

to ease maintenance. In 1939, Petersburg Superintendent O. F. Worthington, 

Jr., wrote, in response to continuing complaints about the grave markers, that 

lawn maintenance at Poplar Grove “...is admittedly a problem which demands 

a disproportionate share of our funds and time. The lowering of the stones 

contributes to the burden, for it is difficult indeed to keep the wire grass from 

covering them horizontally...”38 Worthington noted that the grass around the 

stones had to be cut by hand, as it had when the stones were upright. In another 

problem ensuing from the project, he noted that some stones were being chipped 

by the mower as it passed over them.

Probably because of the public criticism and lack of practical benefit, the park 

service developed plans to improve the grave markers. In 1939, the park made 

a proposal that was never implemented to set the headstones in a concrete 

collar to keep grass from growing over stones and to prevent chipping from 

mowers.39 The following year, in May 1940, the War Department advised the 

National Park Service that it could furnish new, rectangular flat markers for 

all of the graves, and Director Arno Cammerer recommended to cemetery 

Poplar Grove Superintendent Moore that “...it might be well to take advantage 

of their generous offer while the markers are available. This would mean a 

complete coverage of new headstone markers flush with the ground...The (War) 
109 

Department seems most anxious to make these 

replacements at this time.”40 In 1939, the park 

had already begun to use these new headstones to 

mark new graves at Poplar Grove, using a standard 

design for flat marble markers issued in 1936 by 

the War Department for use in private lawn-style 

cemeteries.41 Colonial National Historical Park took 

the War Department up on its offer and installed 

new flat markers at Yorktown National Cemetery 

in c.1940 (fig. 1.69). The project was not, however, 

implemented at Poplar Grove, probably because 

cemetery Superintendent Moore disagreed with 

Director Cammerer and advocated instead that the original upright headstones 

be furnished because the flat markers were “hard to maintain and source of 

criticism.”42

Landscape Management During Early Years of Petersburg Administration

The park service did not alter Poplar Grove’s headstones and blocks as part of any 

planned program of improvements. It was only in June 1934, after the stones were 

laid flat, that a plan was outlined, entitled “Six-Year Advance Program of Federal 

Construction for Poplar Grove National Cemetery.” This plan, totaling $3,700, 

recommended tree surgery and protection, repair of the lodge and inclosure wall, 

construction of a concrete basement for a water tank, repair of the driveways, and 

“landscaping cemetery grounds.” 43 These improvements would be implemented 

following Poplar Grove’s administrative transfer from Colonial National 

Monument to Petersburg National Military Park in December 1935. 

In 1936, the park proposed an ECW (CCC) project for seeding and sodding, and 

the following spring, CCC crews planted 115 Eastern red-cedar trees according 

to a January 1937 plan by the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Design.44

This plan documented existing mature trees (the young trees planted in 1931 

were not shown) and specified planting the native red-cedars on both sides of 

the inclosure wall near the entrance and lodge to screen the Blaha barnyard and 

chicken house (fig. 1.70). A wood post and barbed-wire fence was built along the 

property line to protect the new trees from livestock. Another grouping of redcedars was planted alongside the lodge and utility (restroom) building to screen 

the view of this utilitarian area from the assembly area adjoining the rostrum. 

Other red-cedars were scattered across the cemetery lawn as specimens. After 

the planting, CCC crews worked through the summer of 1937 on repairing and 

repointing the inclosure wall with flush joints. Plans had called for replacing the 

sandstone pilaster caps with new concrete caps, but this work was not included 

in the project. Finally, in 1939 the old well house in the service yard was removed 

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.69: Replacement flat 

markers at Yorktown National 

Cemetery installed in c.1940, looking 

northeast from a recent photograph, 

2006. In the background is the 

Revolutionary War battlefield. (SUNY 

ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

110

and a new cover installed, and an overhead utility line was brought in from the 

Blaha farmhouse (southwest of the cemetery) to provide electrical power to the 

lodge.45

As these improvements were being planned and implemented, the National 

Park Service was developing a master plan for Petersburg National Battlefield, 

developed by the Branch of Plans and Design and completed in c.1941. The 

master plan, which encompassed elements of the six-year improvement program 

at Poplar Grove National Cemetery, included a detailed technical plan and an 

illustrated rendering of the cemetery showing its tree-lined approach road and a 

detail of the inclosure wall with proposed concrete caps (fig. 1.71).46 The master 

plan focused on documenting existing conditions while apparently proposing no 

new improvements. It illustrated an overall informal, idealized rural landscape of 

lawn and scattered trees, characteristic of landscape design in the park service and 

long-standing efforts to minimize maintenance. 

Figure 1.70: “Proposed Planting at 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery,” 

1937. The plan for planting 115 

red-cedar trees also documented 

existing conditions except for 

young trees planted in 1931. 

(National Park Service Branch of 

Plans and Design, 29 May 1937, 

drawing PETE 325-8041, National 

Park Service Technical Information 

Center.)
111 

The technical plan contained a detailed inventory of all trees and shrubs, 

including small trees set out by the War Department in 1931 and the Eastern redcedars planted in 1937.47 (Listing of tree species inventoried in Appendix G.) The 

plan created a cataloguing system for the trees, identifying each by number and 

listing species, caliper, and condition. It was probably at this time that each tree 

was marked by a circular metal tag with the catalog number. The plan also showed 

buildings and structures, English ivy on the inside of the wall, the arborvitae hedge 

around the service yard, and woods to the north, east, and south sides. It did not 

show small-scale features such as the gun monuments, tablets, and settees. The 

plan also identified eighty-four open burial plots available in the cemetery, using 

drives and empty plots where trees had been removed. The War Department took 

the same approach to providing additional burial plots within other Civil War-era 

national cemeteries in the region.48

Although the CCC program was discontinued in 1942, several maintenance 

projects were completed during World War II, including removal of diseased and 

dead trees in 1942, and replacement of drain pipes in 1943.49 Aside from these two 

projects, there were few changes to Poplar Grove’s landscape through Benjamin 

Moore’s retirement as the last cemetery superintendent in 1949. 

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.71: Rendered existing 

conditions plan of Poplar Grove 

completed for the Petersburg 

National Military Park master plan, 

c.1941. (National Park Service 

Branch of Plans and Design, from 

data as of September 1, 1941, 

drawing PETE 325-2073, National 

Park Service Technical Information 

Center.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

112

MISSION 66 Era, 1949-1975

While there were sporadic efforts to spruce up the cemetery during the 

three decades following Superintendent Moore’s retirement in 1949, overall 

maintenance and improvements were sustained at a bare minimum, despite an 

influx of funds for development of the larger battlefield park. It was during this 

period that many of the small-scale features in the cemetery landscape were lost, 

leaving it with a barren feeling, especially without the grave markers in a visible 

position and with a decreasing number of specimen trees and shrubs. 

Planning and development at Petersburg National Military Park during this time 

were carried out largely through the structure of the National Park Service’s 

MISSION 66 program and Parkscape, its successor program that extended into 

the early 1970s. The MISSION 66 program was approved by Congress in 1956 as 

a ten-year improvement program to be completed upon the fiftieth anniversary 

of the National Park Service in 1966. It was intended to make up for increases in 

visitation and deterioration in park infrastructure that had occurred since World 

War II, and to replace the earlier cycle of yearly budgets that had hindered postwar planning and construction. Although MISSION 66 was comprehensive in its 

scope, it in effect emphasized building construction. At Petersburg, the highlight 

of the MISSION 66 program was a new visitor center and overpass on Route 36 in 

the main part of the park between Petersburg and Hopewell, completed in 1967. 

Closer to Poplar Grove, the park completed Flank Road through the Federal Left 

Flank in 1963, following a CCC access road. These improvements were detailed in 

a new park master plan completed in 1965. 50

Aside from the MISSION 66 improvements, the years between 1949 and 1976 

were a time of significant change for the park, which was renamed Petersburg 

National Battlefield in 1962. Visitation increased dramatically, reaching more 

than a half million annually by 1976, attributed to the Civil War centennial. While 

the park was enjoying increased public support, it also divested itself of the 

original system of outlying tour roads due in large part to suburban development 

pressures. In 1973, the park transferred ownership of Flank Road east of Vaughan 

Road to the City of Petersburg, but retained the recently built section to the west 

(see fig. 1.66).51 Near Poplar Grove, the regional suburban development trends led 

to changes in the setting of the cemetery as houses were built along roads and in 

the surrounding woods. 

Administration and Use

Upon Benjamin Moore’s retirement in 1949, Petersburg National Military Park 

decided to abolish the position of cemetery superintendent. Maintenance of the 

cemetery was subsequently absorbed by the existing staff of Petersburg National 
113 

Military Park.52 Although the Poplar Grove lodge was used for park staff housing, 

the cemetery for the first time lacked daily on-site supervision until February 

1957, when the park appointed a full-time caretaker. The caretaker was assisted 

by other park maintenance staff as needs arose. Yet with only three full-time 

maintenance workers during the 1950s for the entire park, labor for the cemetery 

was in short supply.53

Despite the problems with maintenance and funding, the park prepared studies 

and developed plans for managing Poplar Grove. In 1954, the park’s historian, 

Herbert Olsen, completed the first history of the cemetery, for which two plans, 

a Historical Land Status Map and updated Burial Location Plan, were prepared 

by the regional Design & Construction Division. The Burial Location Plan was 

the first known graphic to show the location of the graves by number.54 For its 

MISSION 66 prospectus, finalized in the spring of 1957, the park included an 

item for the repair of the cemetery’s graves and markers, at a projected cost of 

$17,500.55

The years between 1950 and 1957 witnessed a record number of burials since the 

first new veteran graves were dug in 1896. During this eight-year period, there 

were twenty-one new burials, with a high of five burials in 1956 (chronological 

tally of burials in Appendix C). These new burials were concentrated in the row 

at the east end of Division F, and were also scattered throughout the cemetery, 

apparently in extra spaces within the rows that had been occupied by trees, but 

not filling in drives as detailed in the 1941 master plan. In 1957, Poplar Grove 

received its final burial at grave 3430A.56 After this point, the park closed the 

cemetery to burials (although a spouse was subsequently buried within an existing 

grave), but remained open for the reinterment of Civil War remains. In May 1957, 

the Quartermaster Corps concurred with the park’s decision on burials, and 

Poplar Grove was removed from the list of active national cemeteries.57 Despite its 

closed status, Poplar Grove continued to receive relatively high visitation, reaching 

upwards of 7,000 annually, mostly tourists rather than visitors to graves.58

Landscape Changes

By the mid-1950s, Poplar Grove had fallen into very poor condition resulting from 

staff cuts and a long period of deferred maintenance stretching back to World 

War II. In April 1957, Roy Appleman, Petersburg National Military Park Staff 

Historian, wrote a letter to the Regional Director of the National Park Service 

criticizing the agency’s management of Poplar Grove:

...I do not see how the National Park Service can escape the responsibility 

of carrying out a rather extensive rehabilitation of the cemetery in the 

near future. Of all the work that needs to be done at Petersburg, this needs 

Site History, 1933-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

114

most to be done. In fact, I have seen very few jobs to do anywhere in the 

park system that I think rank in urgency with this one. The Poplar Grove 

Cemetery is now in a condition that approaches a disgrace. The cemetery 

is relatively uncared for, the headstones cannot be found because twenty 

odd years ago they were cut off and laid flat on the ground and have since 

become covered with dirt and grass, and the speaker’s stand [rostrum] is 

badly in need of repair and maintenance...On the occasion of my second 

visit to the cemetery...I saw two old women looking around in the grass 

for headstones—where none were to be seen. They were buried under dirt 

and grass. Occasionally a stone can be found, and I observed that in the 

back part of the cemetery quite a number were visible in whole or in part, 

but only a small portion I would estimate of the total number...59

Appleman was writing to the Regional Director in response to the park’s recently 

released MISSION 66 prospectus, with its item for repair of the graves and 

markers. Apparently in response to Appleman’s letter, the amount was raised from 

$11,200 to $17,500 ($76,000 to $119,000 in 2007 dollars), but still did not include 

any substantial improvements or new construction. On April 22, 1957, just a few 

weeks after Appleman’s letter, National Park Service Assistant Director, Jackson E. 

Price, received harsh criticism on the condition of Poplar Grove from a Mrs. Arvo 

N. Niemi of Chicago, who had been in touch about the matter with her Senator. 

In this letter, she reinforced Appelman’s observations and the longstanding public 

criticism over the grave stones: 

...The neglect was evident in every inch of the cemetery. 

From the flagpole, the ‘Stars and Stripes’ were hanging 

limply and in ribboned tatters. Walking the width and 

length there were thousands of grave markers sunk below 

the ground level. As if this were not enough, the layers 

and layers of grass had completely obliterated from 

recognition the majority of Union graves. This was not 

true of the graves of World War I and World War II....I 

only wish that I could concur in your statement that the 

Poplar Grove Cemetery’s condition was greatly superior 

to that indicated in my letter to Hon. Senator Potter. It 

was the extreme contrast, the woeful neglect of the final 

resting place of those who gave their lives in the Battle of 

the Crater and Petersburg that incensed me...60

Within weeks of Mrs. Niemi’s letter, the park began 

improvements at the cemetery. By early May of 1957, 

work was underway on a new entrance sign, cleaning and 

Figure 1.72: Item in Richmond 

Times-Dispatch on Memorial Day 

Services at Poplar Grove, May 

29, 1957, illustrating recent work 

that included repositioning the 

headstones and blocks slightly 

above grade. (Clipping in RG 79, 

Series A58, Box 537, Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery, National 

Archives II.)
115 

painting the entrance gate, tree trimming, and a general leveling and clean-up of 

the grounds. The work included addressing the condition of the grave markers in 

fulfillment of the MISSION 66 prospectus. The park did not heed Staff Historian 

Roy Appleman’s suggestion, made in his letter to the Regional Director, that “...

the only course is to raise the headstones and set them upright like they were 

originally.”61 Rather than use new stones, Appleman had recommended that the 

old stones be set with iron pins in new foundations, at an estimated cost of $2.00 

per headstone. Instead, the park simply raised the existing flat headstones and 

blocks about two inches above grade. Despite previous problems with settling, 

the headstones were just set on the ground. Around this time, the park replaced a 

number of broken stones and blocks with contemporary government flat markers. 

Much of the work had been completed by Memorial Day in preparation for a 

ceremony carried out by the park in cooperation with Fort Lee, at which time 

American flags were placed at each grave marker (fig. 1.72).62

As part of this rehabilitation project, the park also installed new visitor 

information signs and revised the designation of the cemetery plan. The old 

iron tablets, with the four-line verses, cemetery regulations, and other notices, 

were most likely removed at the same time and stored in the loft of the garage.63

Three new signs were installed at the flagstaff, each made of brushed aluminum 

frames: a small sign probably with a visitor registry, flanked by two larger signs, 

one with the burial register, the other with the revised plan with interpretive text 

and a rendering of Poplar Grove Church (fig. 1.73). In revising the cemetery 

organization, the park was apparently trying to make it easier for visitors to 

locate graves, an effort that had been difficult even with the headstones in their 

upright position. The new 

organization did away 

with the division and 

section designations and 

reordered the cemetery 

into twenty “Blocks” 

identified by Roman 

numerals (fig. 1.74). Ten of 

the blocks incorporated 

more than one section, 

and a new block (Block 

XX) was created for the 

row of recent burials on 

the east end of Division F 

(Block XIX). In addition 

to redesignating the 

divisions and sections, 

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.73: View northeast 

across the center of the 

cemetery in July 1968 showing 

the signs near the flagstaff 

installed in c.1957. Also visible 

are small signs in the foreground 

identifying the radial drives 

(installed c.1957). Note that the 

shot had been removed from in 

front of the gun monuments. 

The identity of the people is 

not known. (Photograph by 

Fred Bell, June 2, 1968, Poplar 

Grove administrative records, 

Petersburg National Battlefield.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

116

the new plan named the 

radiating drives (except for 

the main drive) by letters A 

through F. Small iron tablets 

with the letter designation 

were installed at the head of 

the drives on the innermost 

circular drive (see fig. 1.73).64

Over the course of the two 

decades following the 1957 

improvements, little additional 

work was undertaken at the 

cemetery. The park continued 

to maintain most of the 

features remaining from the 

War Department era, including 

the four gun monuments, 

settees, and flagstaff anchored 

by guy wires (see fig. 1.73). 

The park maintained the existing trees and shrubs, including the arborvitae hedge 

around the service yard, and the boxwood Maltese cross hedge in front of the 

lodge (fig. 1.75). New trees were planted in keeping with the existing informal 

arrangement, and included mostly holly, red maple, yellow birch, and willow oak. 

The gravestones, despite the work done in 1957, continued to sink and heave, and 

by the early 1970s, many had once again become obscured by grass. Cars drove 

over the graves along the main entrance drive when passing in opposite directions, 

and mowers continued to batter the edges of the stones.65

While there were few built changes within the cemetery walls, the situation was 

different outside on the former Flower farm that surrounded the cemetery. The 

land was owned by the Odom family and known by the 1970s 

as “Beau Vista Farms.”66 Lester G. and Roberta E. Odom 

had acquired the ninety-acre farm from Russell and Audrey 

Garner in 1954.67 A 1969 aerial photograph of the farm 

documented the acreage of the farm’s fields surrounding the 

cemetery (fig. 1.76). Two years later in 1971, Lester Odom 

Figure 1.74: Plan of Poplar Grove 

showing the c.1957 organization 

by block, and naming of radiating 

drives by letter. This plan was 

posted, along with interpretive 

text and a drawing of Poplar Grove 

Church, in one of the aluminumframe signs installed to either 

side of the flagstaff in c.1957. 

(Petersburg National Battlefield.)

Figure 1.75: A 1968 photograph looking southwest at the Maltese cross 

hedge (c.1871), with the Gettysburg Address on the lodge wall added in 

c.1903. The identity of the boy is not known. (Photograph by Fred Bell, 

June 2, 1968, Poplar Grove administrative records, Petersburg National 

Battlefield.)
117 

died, and he was buried in a 

small cyclone-fence enclosed 

family plot established on the 

south side of the cemetery 

approach road. That same 

year, a second burial was 

made in the family plot for 

Nellie E. Jones.68

Following the death of 

her husband, Roberta 

Odom began to subdivide 

rear portions of the farm, 

while retaining the prime 

agricultural land along 

Vaughan Road in production. 

In July 1972, she conveyed 

to other family members the 

small cemetery along the approach road, which she did, according to the deed, 

“expressly for the purpose of providing to the heirs of Lester Grady Odom, 

deceased, and their descendents, grantees herein, a place for maintaining a 

family cemetery” (fig. 1.77). 69 Around the same time, Mrs. Odom subdivided 

two lots along the north and east sides of the national cemetery and sold them to 

Anthony Blaha and Ronald Peterson, each of whom built single-family houses on 

the property, within seventy-five feet of the east wall. To access these houses, a 

driveway was built off the cemetery approach road, along the edge of an old field 

bordering the west side of the cemetery, extending along the full length of the 

cemetery’s north side, and turning south to follow the cemetery’s east wall.70

The construction of the Blaha and Peterson houses, along with the access drive, 

changed the rural setting of Poplar Grove. Along the north side of the cemetery, 

most of the woods were cleared 

for the access drive, leaving a thin 

hedgerow that opened up views 

of the drive, power line, and 

wetlands and fields to the north. 

Trees were also cleared around 

the two houses, which broke up 

the wooded enclosure and made 

the houses visible from within the 

cemetery (fig. 1.78). Despite this 

development, the rural setting 

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.76: A 1969 aerial 

photograph of the Odom Farm 

that surrounded the national 

cemetery. The photograph 

does not include the eastern 

part of the farm (to right 

of the cemetery). (Poplar 

Grove administrative records, 

Petersburg National Battlefield.)

Not to scale

Figure 1.77: Sketch made by park 

staff in 1977 showing the Blaha 

and Peterson houses and access 

drive built in c.1972. The shaded 

area was proposed for park 

acquisition in 1977. (Poplar Grove 

administrative records, Petersburg 

National Battlefield, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

118

of the cemetery, visible from Vaughan Road 

across the fields of the Odom farm, remained 

largely intact. 

During the tenure of Petersburg 

Superintendent Larry L. Hakel (1972-1975) 

and around the time that the park gave up 

ownership of Flank Road, the National Park 

Service completed work at the cemetery that 

effectively stripped the landscape of most of its 

remaining small-scale features from the War 

Department period. The park removed three 

of the four gun monuments and purportedly 

gave them to Fort Donalsen National 

Battlefield in Tennessee.71 The settees were 

removed and replaced with two new benches on concrete pads at the flagstaff. 

The flagstaff’s upper sections and guy wires were removed, leaving it well below 

the tree canopy at half its original eighty-foot height. The old well was replaced by 

a new one west of the garage. 72 At the time the park was removing these features, 

it was also reassessing its responsibility for the approach road, which remained 

in private ownership subject to a federal right-of-way as provided in the 1877 

cemetery deed. The park’s concern with maintaining the approach road was 

probably due to budget limitations and uncertainty over liability given increased 

private use of the road to access the Blaha and Peterson houses and the potential 

for similar new development in the adjoining fields of the Odom farm.73 The 

approach road by this time had lost most of its formal allee to a border of scrubby 

successional woods. 

1975 to the Present

Following the appointment of Wallace B. Elms as the new superintendent of 

Petersburg National Battlefield in August 1975, the park began to take interest in 

preserving Poplar Grove’s buildings, landscape, and rural setting. In November 

1976, the park received approval for a “Development/Study Package Proposal” 

for cemetery improvements based on a Resource Management Plan approved 

the prior September. The stated purpose of this project was to “Improve the 

appearance and enhance the preservation of Poplar Grove National Cemetery.” 

The project, budgeted at $321,000, was intended largely as a rehabilitation 

of the cemetery; there were no plans to restore lost features or to return the 

grave markers to their former upright position. In addition to the improvement 

work, the proposal also recommended acquisition of additional land around 

the cemetery, amounting to five acres, to provide the minimum area needed for 

maintenance of the inclosure wall and to place the approach road in government 

Figure 1.78: View looking east 

across the cemetery from the 

main entrance drive toward the 

Peterson house built in c.1972, 

photographed 1978. (File PETE 

D-58, National Park Service 

Technical Information Center.)
119 

ownership. The reasons that the park outlined for the project described 

conditions nearly identical to those prior to the 1957 improvement project: 

The Service has been severely criticized for not meeting its obligations at 

Poplar Grove. The headstones have gradually sunk over the years until 

many are no longer visible. The brick wall that encloses the cemetery is in 

danger of collapse. Trees and shrubs no longer agree with the planting plan 

of 1937 and the cemetery generally looks shabby...Unless this project is 

funded the cemetery will continue to present a shabby appearance and the 

historic resource will continue to slowly deteriorate through benign neglect. 

Existing funds can only maintain this facility at existing levels, accordingly 

the need to upgrade the facility is critical.74

A scope of work was soon developed by the National Park Service’s central 

design office, the Denver Service Center, with final design scheduled for 1979 and 

construction the same year.75 Details of the project, developed in 1977 by Livas 

& Associates Architects of Norfolk, Virginia, included setting the headstones and 

blocks one and one-half inches above grade on concrete foundations to prevent 

subsidence; installing granite paving around the flagstaff and one remaining gun 

monument; closing the main drive to vehicles by placing bollards east of the 

service yard; installing an interpretive wayside near the service yard; repairing the 

inclosure wall, lodge, stable, restrooms, and rostrum; and redesigning the entrance 

and service yard into a temporary visitor parking lot, with the long-term goal of 

creating parking outside of the cemetery (fig. 1.79). Plantings were only proposed 

around the new parking lot, pending further research on historic plantings and 

possible disturbance that tree plantings could cause to the graves.76 Funding for 

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.79: Plan completed in 

1977 for redesign of the cemetery 

entrance area. (Livas & Associates, 

Architects, “Visitor Park & 

Grounds Improvement, Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery,” August 

1977, Drawing PETE 325-41012, 

National Park Service Technical 

Information Center. )
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

120

the improvements had been allocated through the final design stage, but nothing 

had been secured for actual construction by March 1978.77 Apparently due to lack 

of funds, the project was never implemented. 

While the improvements stalled, the park did progress with the land acquisition 

component. In July 1977, Superintendent Wallace Elms sent the Mid-Atlantic 

Regional Director sketches of the proposed minimum and optimum land 

acquisitions necessary to access the inclosure wall, secure the approach road, and 

preserve the setting of the cemetery. The optimum acquisition, amounting to over 

eighteen acres, included the approach road, field to its north, private access drive, 

and the Blaha and Peterson houses (see shaded area in fig. 1.77). The minimum 

area, amounting to five acres, included a strip around the cemetery, the approach 

road, and the old field between the west wall of the cemetery and the private 

access drive. Superintendent Elms closed his letter urging acquisition of the 

property “...in the near future before additional development makes acquisition 

impractical or at least much more costly.”78 By the following November, the park 

Regional Office had decided to support the optimum proposal, and a package 

of legislative support materials was completed in February 1978 for acquisition 

of 17.74 acres at an estimated cost of $295,000. The proposal outlined the 

park’s intention to secure the cemetery approach road, prevent construction of 

additional houses next to the inclosure wall, and provide an “appropriate open 

space setting and buffer zone befitting the historicity and commemorative dignity 

of the final resting place for the Civil War dead interred therein.”79

The acquisition stalled for a number of years, apparently due in part to a proposal 

for a housing development on the land and lack of funds.80 By 1987, the park’s 

new superintendent, Frank J. Deckert, settled with Roberta Odom on a much 

reduced proposal for acquisition of a 3.7-acre parcel that included the land 

between the west wall of the cemetery 

and the private driveway to the Blaha 

and Peterson houses, and a strip 

along and including a section of the 

approach road and Odom cemetery, 

extending one hundred feet south of 

the road (fig. 1.80). The remainder of 

the approach road extending out to 

Vaughan Road was not included in the 

proposal. Roberta Odom offered the 

property as a donation, in return for 

the park’s commitment to maintain 

her family’s small cemetery plot. 

According to Deckert, the 3.7 acres 

Figure 1.80: Survey of the Odom 

farm showing subdivisions 

and plot (shown in black) 

offered for donation by 

Roberta Odom in 1987. (Poplar 

Grove administrative records, 

Petersburg National Battlefield.)
121 

“should provide an excellent buffer zone on the west side of the cemetery and a 

portion of it could be used for a small parking lot to accommodate visitors.”81 The 

regional office agreed with the proposal, and following completion of a survey in 

January 1990, a contract for donation between Roberta Odom and the National 

Park Foundation (a charitable organization working in partnership with the 

National Park Service) was finalized on September 5, 1990. The contract reserved 

forever the right of family members to access the cemetery, but did not specify 

how the cemetery would be maintained. The park assured Mrs. Odom that it 

was the intent of the National Park Service to maintain the cemetery to National 

Park Service standards.82 On April 24, 1991, Roberta Odom signed the deed for 

donation of the property to the National Park Foundation. However, because 

the land was outside of the park’s acquisition boundary that coincided with the 

cemetery property line, the National Park Foundation did not convey the property 

to the National Park Service.83

Despite this, the park managed the 3.7-acre parcel as park land. In c.1995, the 

park built a small visitor parking lot on the parcel along the north side of the 

approach road, adjoining the cemetery gates (fig. 1.81). Beyond the parking lot 

were young, dense woods of loblolly pine that had grown up since the driveway 

Site History, 1933-Present

Figure 1.81: Aerial photograph of 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

and its setting, spring 2004. 

(Poplar Grove GIS database, 

Petersburg National Battlefield, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

122

to the Blaha and Peterson houses had been built in c.1972. The growth of these 

woods obscured the views of the cemetery and approach road from the west 

that had characterized the landscape since the Civil War. Additional successional 

vegetation outside the southwestern wall had grown up around the scattered 

red-cedars planted in 1937, further changing the once open views looking out 

from the cemetery west and south to the surrounding farmland. Park managers 

probably viewed this vegetation as beneficial to screening potential new 

development in the adjoining fields.

Within the cemetery walls, the landscape continued to lose features as planning 

was underway for improvements and land acquisition from the 1970s through the 

1990s. Losses included specimen trees and a part of the narrow band of woods 

along the north side due to a blow-down in 1994. The Maltese cross hedge, 

planted in front of the lodge in c.1872, was removed along with a sole remaining 

settee in c.1985. Built changes during this time included addition of a frame 

storage shed behind the garage in c.1982, addition of a steel exterior staircase on 

the west side of the garage in c.1990 that replaced the earlier pulley system used 

to access the garage loft; and installation of a new concrete tube well casing in the 

service yard in c.1990.84 The main drive and approach road were repaved in 2003, 

using a sand and pea-gravel topcoat to provide the character of gravel. The park 

maintained the grave markers by periodic cleaning, leveling, and trimming the 

surrounding grass, although cutbacks in maintenance staff resulted in a backlog of 

work.

Recognizing the long-standing problems with the grave markers and the 

deteriorated condition of the rest of the landscape, the park received preliminary 

approval in 2002 for a comprehensive rehabilitation project with the stated 

purpose to “Remove those conditions which impair the ability of the American 

public to safely access, understand, enjoy and reverently commemorate Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery as the final resting place [for Civil War soldiers]...”85

The primary objective addressed the condition of the grave markers. Since little 

research had been done on the history of the cemetery landscape, the park funded 

this Cultural Landscape Report as the first step in planning for the project. 

Despite the seemingly shortsighted and insensitive changes over the years, 

Poplar Grove retains profound historic significance as the resting place for many 

thousands who gave their lives to the country, and for its landscape that reflects 

the nation’s earliest efforts at commemorating its war dead. While no longer 

an active national cemetery, Poplar Grove still fulfills the intent of Congress, 

as expressed in its April 31, 1866 Joint Resolution, to keep the resting places of 

the honored dead sacred forever. Aside from its contemporary role as a place of 

commemorating past sacrifices and interpreting the Civil War, Poplar Grove does 
123 

continue to offer interment for long-lost soldiers of the Petersburg Campaign. 

In 2003, for the first time since 1957, two burials were made in the cemetery 

from remains discovered at Peeble’s Farm and Ream’s Station battlefields, and 

others will probably occur in the future.86 While these active funerary uses subtly 

continue the cemetery’s connection with the Civil War, this historic association is 

greatly weakened through the deteriorated and forlorn character of the landscape. 

However, once rehabilitated with upright headstones and blocks, new plantings, 

reinstalled iron tablets, and a new flagstaff as presently proposed, Poplar Grove 

will once again convey the tragic consequences of the Civil War, the distinctive 

character of a Civil War-era national cemetery, and the gratitude of a nation to 

those who gave their lives in service. 

Endnotes

1 U.S.G.S. Petersburg 15 minute quadrangle map, 1952.

2 Preamble to The National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 2 3, and 4), 25 August 1916 (39 Stat. 535).

3 During the 1930s, as the War Department was transferring the cemeteries to the National Park Service, it was also 

establishing several large new cemeteries near major metropolitan areas. The War Department was reorganized as the 

Department of Defense in 1949, and in 1973, most of the national cemetery system was transferred to the Veterans 

Administration (now the Department of Veterans Affairs). In 1998, the name of the National Cemetery System was 

changed to the National Cemetery Administration. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Fact Sheet: The National Cemetery 

Administration” (Unpublished paper, April 2004). 

4 Monro MacCloskey, Hallowed Ground: Our National Cemeteries (New York: Richards Rosen Press, 1968), 123-124. City 

Point National Cemetery was probably not transferred to Petersburg National Military Park because it was still an active 

cemetery with many open plots. The numerous national cemeteries near Richmond National Battlefield Park, including 

Richmond, Seven Pines, Glendale, Cold Harbor, and Fort Harrison, were not transferred to the Department of Interior 

most likely because Richmond National Battlefield Park was not created until 1936, three years after Executive Order 6166. 

5 On August 3, 1933, Jas. H. Laubach, Lieutenant Colonel, Quartermaster Corps, wrote a memo to the Quartermaster 

of the Third Corps Area, Baltimore, concerning the administrative transfer, in which he stated: “It is assumed that from 

conversations had with representatives of the Interior Department, your advice and recommendations will be sought for 

some months to come. It is the desire of this office that such assistance as can be rendered be promptly furnished.” Aside 

from the Quarterly Reports, the only example of NPS contact with the War Department regarding the maintenance of 

Poplar Grove occurred in 1934 over the question of lowering the grave markers. 

6 Herbert Olsen, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery History” (Unpublished report prepared for the National Park Service, 

31 May 1954), 63; Quartermaster General National Cemetery Quarterly Report forms completed for Poplar Grove, 1933-

1937, RG 79, Records of the National Park Service, Entry 31, Military Parks, National Cemeteries, National Archives II, 

College Park, Maryland (hereafter, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II), box 2704. 

7 The last Inspector General inspection of Poplar Grove found in the National Archives is from May 1928 (Robert G. 

Goetz, Survey of Poplar Grove to Commanding General, Third Corps Area, May 18, 1928; survey made on May 11, 1928, 

RG 159, Records of the Inspector General, Entry 11, Office of the Inspector General Annual Inspection Reports 1912-1939, 

Cemeteries, Box 294, National Archives II, College Park, Maryland). The last War Department inspection report was made 

in 1931 (A. B. Kaempfer, Corps Area Inspector General, Third Corps Area, 28 October 1931, RG 92, Entry 1891, Box 1773, 

Office of the Quartermaster General, Correspondence, Geographic File, 1922-1935, National Archives II). The function 

of the Inspector General by this date had apparently been transferred to the Office of the Quartermaster General (Corps 

Areas).

Site History, 1933-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

124

8 No record of War Department intervention was found in RG 79, the Poplar Grove NPS records at National Archives II. 

No post-1933 Poplar Grove records were found in RG 92, Office of the Quartermaster General at National Archives II.

9 Colonial National Historical Park, “Creation of Colonial National Historical Park,” online article at http://www.nps/gov/

archive/colo/Ythanout/colonhp.html.

10 R. M. Holmes, Chief Clerk, Office of National Parks, Buildings, and Reservations, to William H. Green, Superintendent, 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 26 August 1933; Floyd B. Flickinger to J. Walter Coleman, Acting Superintendent 

Petersburg National Military Park, 16 December 1935, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704; Lee A. Wallace, “A 

History of Petersburg National Battlefield to 1956” (National Park Service History Division, 1983), 89.

11 Olsen, 64, 88. The cemetery superintendent’s autonomy from the park superintendent is suggested by the direct 

correspondence with the Director of the National Park Service during the 1930s and 1940s, Poplar Grove NPS Records, 

NARA II, boxes 2703-2704.

12 Poplar Grove burial register, digital Access table compiled by Betsy Dinger, Petersburg National Battlefield.

13 Benjamin Moore, Poplar Grover superintendent to H. C. Bryant, Assistant Director National Park Service, 11 October 

1935, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704; Poplar Grove Quarterly Report for the period ending June 30, 1929, 

RG 79, Entry 5, Records of the War Department Relating to National Parks, 1892-1937, National Archives II, College Park, 

Maryland, box 50.

14 Roger Charles Sherry, “Cultural Landscape Report for the Federal Left Flank and Fish Hook Siegeworks” (National 

Park Service Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, October 2004), 57.

15 Richard Bartlett, “Preliminary Checklist of Records of the NPS Relating to the Civilian Conservation Corps Camps and 

Works Progress Administration Work Camps” (Unpublished paper, National Archives, June 1945), 3, NARA II.

16 Wallace, 128; Sherry, 55, 58, 95-96.

17 B. Floyd Flickinger, Superintendent Colonial National Monument, to Poplar Grove Superintendent Benjamin Moore, 

18 September 1933, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

18 Quarterly Reports for Poplar Grove National Cemetery, for period ending 31 December 1933, 30 June 1934, 30 

September 1935, 31 March 1937, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704. Although the 1937 quarterly report was 

the last report filed at the National Archives, it is likely that CCC crews continued to assist at Poplar Grove until the camp 

was closed in the spring of 1941. 

19 Olsen, 88.

20 Benjamin Moore, Poplar Grove Quarterly Report for the Period Ending September 30, 1933, Poplar Grove NPS 

Records, NARA II, box 2704. No documentation was found on the exact location of the flowerbeds located near the lodge.

21 Charles E. Shevlin, Forester, to Chief Forester, Office of National Parks, Buildings, and Reservations, 13 February 1934, 

Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

22 Superintendent Walter Pearce, quarterly report ending March 31, 1932, Poplar Grove NPS War Department Records, 

NARA II, box 50.

23 This was part of the so-called NPS rustic style. Linda Flint McClelland, Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape 

Design of the National Park Service, 1916- to 1942 (Washington: Department of the Interior, National Register of Historic 

Places, 1993), 153.

24 At the time, the park service had minimal experience with preserving historic landscapes. With a few exceptions, it was 

only with the administrative transfer in 1933 that the park service acquired battlefields and other historic sites. 

25 Associate Director A. E. Demaray to Acting Superintendent B. Floyd Flickinger, 27 October 1933, Poplar Grove NPS 

Records, NARA II, box 2704.

26 Ray F. Wyrick, “Modernizing Old Sections: Redevelopment Work in Greenwood at Rockford,” Park and Cemetery, 

volume 4, no. 5 (July 1931), 142-143.
125 

27 “Resetting Leaning Headstones,” Park and Cemetery, volume 35, no. 4 (June 1925), page 107.

28 Cemetery superintendent R. G. Anderson, Quarterly Report for Yorktown National Cemetery,” for quarter October 

1, 1933-December 31, 1933 (assumed date), RG 79, Entry 11, NPS Central Classified File, 1933-49, National Cemeteries, 

NARA II, files for Yorktown National Cemetery (hereafter, Yorktown NPS records, NARA II). Another reason for leveling 

the grave markers at Yorktown may have been to avoid needed repairs. A big windstorm had swept across Yorktown in 

August 1933, probably leading to damaged grave markers, similar to the impact from the 1915 tornado at Poplar Grove. The 

grave markers at Fredericksburg National Cemetery, which was also transferred to NPS, were not laid flat. 

29 Acting Superintendent Flickinger to Director National Park Service, 26 December 1933, Yorktown NPS records, NARA 

II.

30 National Park Service Arno Cammerer to Superintendent Colonial National Monument, 3 January 1934, Yorktown 

NPS Records, NARA II. The brick inclosure wall was probably not considered foreign as brick was the favored building 

material at Colonial National Monument. The Second Empire-style Meigs lodge was, however, probably considered 

another foreign object in the landscape; a new lodge was specified as part of a six-year improvement plan. This plan was not 

implemented and the original lodge remains today. At an undetermined date, the tall War Department-era flagstaff was also 

removed from the center of the cemetery and replaced with a small flagpole near the cemetery entrance that was not visible 

from the surrounding Revolutionary War battlefields.

31 A transcript of the telegraph was contained in a letter from Raleigh C. Taylor, Acting Superintendent Petersburg 

National Military Park, to Director NPS, 1 August 1939, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704. 

32 NPS Associate Director A. E. Demaray to Mr. Roy Hatten, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 13 January 1936, Poplar Grove NPS 

Records, NARA II, box 2704. Demaray cited the date of the work in response to a complaint by Mr. Hatten. No records of 

the grave marker project and CCC labor were found during research in the National Archives. 

33 Acting Superintendent B. Floyd Flickinger to Director NPS, 14 July 1934; R. C. Jennings, Acting Associate Director 

NPS, 23 July 1934 (authorizing sale of slabs), Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704. The house built with the 

headstones is today known as the tombstone house. 

34 Manning C. Voorhis, Junior Historian and J. Walter Coleman, Acting Superintendent, Petersburg National Battlefield, 

to Verne E. Chatelain, NPS Acting Assistant Director, 3 January 1936, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704. 

35 Cemetery superintendent Benjamin F. Moore to Director NPS, 6 November 1935, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA 

II, box 2704.

36 Edward W. Patterson, 30th District Kansas, House of Representatives, to Arno B. Cammerer, Director, NPS, 13 April 

1937, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

37 NPS Director Arno B. Cammerer to Honorable Edward Patterson, House of Representatives, 26 April 1937, Poplar 

Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

38 Superintendent O. F. Worthington, Jr., “Report of Conditions in the Poplar Grove National Cemetery,” circa July 13, 

1939, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

39 Quarterly report for period 31 March 1935 through 31 March 1944, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

40 NPS Director Arno Cammerer to Superintendent, Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 23 May 1940, Poplar Grove NPS 

Records, NARA II, box 2704.

41 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “History of Government Furnished Headstones and Markers,” http://www.cem.

va.gov/cem/hist/hmhist.asp. The earliest known government flat marker is at grave 1745, installed in 1939.

42 Cemetery Superintendent Moore to Director NPS, postal telegraph, 28 May 1940, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA 

II, box 2704. 

43 Superintendent Benjamin Moore, “Six-Year Advance Program of Federal Construction of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery,” 5 June 1934, Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

44 W. J. Endersbee, Associate Supervisor Emergency Conservation Work, Proposal, ECW project no. 74, 16 April 1936, 

Poplar Grove NPS Records, NARA II, box 2704.

Site History, 1933-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

126

45 Poplar Grove Quarterly Reports for periods ending 31 March 1937, 30 September 1937, 30 June 1939, Poplar Grove 

Records, NARA II, box 2704. The cedars are shown on N. A. Buckley, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery, Part of the Master 

Plan Petersburg National Military Park, Virginia” (detailed planting plan), c.1941, drawing PETE 325 8041, National Park 

Service Technical Information Center, Lakewood, Colorado (hereafter, NPS TIC). The precast concrete caps are specified 

on W. J. Carnes, “Proposed Improvement of Brick Wall at Poplar Grove National Cemetery,” 29 May 1937, with notation 

“Job completed September 7, 1937, ” drawing PETE 325 2056, NPS TIC. The inclosure wall today retains what appear to 

be the original sandstone pilaster caps.

46 Buckley, detailed planting plan, c.1941; N. A. Buckley, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery, Part of the Master Plan 

Petersburg National Military Park, Virginia” (rendered plan), c. 1941, drawing PETE 325 2073, NPS TIC. No textual 

materials from the master plan were found.

47 Although this plan inventoried each tree, the key on the table that indicated species and size only inventoried the 

mature trees. 

48 Other national cemeteries in Virginia, including Cold Harbor, City Point, Glendale, and Fort Richmond, have filled in 

walks and drives with burials during the twentieth century. Personal observation by author, 2006.

49 Poplar Grove Quarterly Reports, for the period ending June 30, 1942 and June 30, 1943, Poplar Grove NPS Records, 

NARA II, box 2704.

50 Martin Conway, “History of Petersburg National Battlefield, 1957-1982” (National Park Service History Division, 

1983), 4-5; Sherry, 60-61. The 1965 master plan and MISSION 66 documents were not examined for this project. According 

to correspondence from Superintendent Bob Kirby, the master plan consisted primarily of construction schematics. E-mail, 

Bob Kirby to Betsy Dinger, 18 September 2006.

51 Conway, 18, 23, 81, 85.

52 Olsen, 63. 

53 NPS Assistant Director Jackson Price to Arvo Niemi, 3 May 1957; Staff Historian Roy Appleman to Regional Director, 

1 April 1957, RG 79, Series A 58, Poplar Grove National Cemetery, NARA II, (hereafter, Poplar Grove NPS Records A58, 

NARA II), box 537. No information was found on how long this caretaker position was maintained.

54 NPS Design & Construction Division, Region One, “Burial Location Plan, Poplar Grove National Cemetery” (undated, 

c.1954), Drawing PETE 325-2037, NPS TIC; NPS Design & Construction Division, Region One, “Historical Land Status 

Map, Poplar Grove National Cemetery (30 April 1954), Drawing PETE 325-2038, NPS TIC.

55 NPS Assistant Director Jackson Price to Arvo Niemi, 3 May 1957, Poplar Grove NPS Records A58, NARA II, box 537.

56 Poplar Grove Burial Record.

57 Lieutenant Colonel John J. Flynn, Quartermaster Corps, Memorial Division, to Bernard Campbell, Petersburg National 

Military Park, 8 May 1957, Poplar Grove NPS Records A58, NARA II, box 537; NPS, “Quarterly Summary of Interments 

and Available Grave Sites,” Poplar Grove, January-March 1958: Known, 2,205; Unknown: 4,110; total: 6,315. Reservations 

of Grave Sites Made During Month: 0. Total Grave sites remaining available: 0. “Remarks: There are seven reservations 

of which four are in the same gravesite with their spouse; and three are adjoining gravesites.” It is not known if these 

reservations were subsequently used.

58 Poplar Grove visitation statistics, 1973-1977, in “Legislative Materials to support Acquisition of Additional Acreage for 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery a part of Petersburg National Battlefield” (Unpublished report, NPS Mid-Atlantic Region, 

finalized 10 February 1978), 8, NPS TIC, drawing PETE D-58.

59 Appleman to Regional Director, 1 April 1957.

60 Mrs. Arvo N. Niemi, Chicago, to NPS Assistant Director Jackson E. Price, 22 April 1957, Poplar Grove NPS Records 

A58, NARA II, box 537.

61 Appleman to Regional Director, 1 April 1957.
127 

Site History, 1933-Present

62 Bernard Campbell, Superintendent, Petersburg National Military Park, to Regional Director, 7 June 1957; clipping on 

Memorial Day Service at Poplar Grove, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 30 May 1957, Poplar Grove NPS Records A58, NARA II, 

box 537.

63 Richard Underwood, Petersburg park staff, conversation with author, 14 December 2006. The tablets remain in the loft 

of the garage.

64 Plan of Poplar Grove National Cemetery, c.1957; a gray-scale version of this plan was also created, located in the 

Petersburg National Battlefield administrative records for Poplar Grove, file 1975-1977, Hickory Hill administrative offices, 

Petersburg (hereafter, “Poplar Grove administrative records”). The numbering on this plan was probably based on the 

c.1954 “Burial Location Plan” that was included in the 1954 History of Poplar Grove by Herbert Olsen (this c.1954 plan 

does not show the block designations). The small iron tablets identifying the radiating drives appear in a 1968 photograph 

by Fred Bell, Poplar Grove administrative files. No evidence prior to 1957 of the letter designation to these drives, or to the 

block designations, was found.

65 National Park Service, “Task Directive: Cemetery Improvements at Poplar Grove, Petersburg National Cemetery” 

(Denver Service Center, finalized 1 March 1978), NPS TIC, document PETE D-36.

66 Memorandum, Ray Blaker to Superintendent Wallace B. Elms, 16 December 1975, Poplar Grove NPS Records A58, 

NARA II, box 537.

67 Deed, Russell W. Garner and Audrey E. Garner to L. G. Odom and Robert E. Odom, 24 February 1943, copy in Poplar 

Grove administrative records.

68 Existing grave stones in Odom cemetery: JONES, E. Everett 1885-1981, Nellie E. 1885-1971; ODOM, Roberta E. 1914-

1993, L. Grady 1891-1971.

69 George Whitman, Jr., “Plat Showing .054-Ac Parcel Surveyed for Mrs. L. G. Odom,” 29 July 1972, Poplar Grove 

administrative records; Deed, Robert E. Odom to Heirs of Lester Grady Odom, Book 157, page 313, Dinwiddie County 

land records.

70 William B. Redmon, NPS Regional Solicitor to Associate Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, 8 March 1974: “...It 

is assumed that the local landowner who built an access road leading to the right-of-way [approach road] two years ago...”, 

Poplar Grove administrative records.

71 Underwood, 14 December 2006.

72 Memo, Petersburg Superintendent Larry Hakel to Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, 11 February 1974, Poplar 

Grove administrative records. The removed features were photographed in 1968 by Fred Bell, Poplar Grove administrative 

records, and do not appear in photographs taken in 1978, “Legislative Materials to support Acquisition of Additional 

Acreage for Poplar Grove National Cemetery” (Petersburg National Battlefield, 10 February 1978), NPS TIC, File PETE 

D-58.

73 Memo, Petersburg Superintendent Larry Hakel to Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, 11 February 1974, Poplar 

Grove administrative records. The removed features were photographed in 1968 by Fred Bell, Poplar Grove administrative 

records; and do not appear in photographs taken in 1978, “Legislative Materials to support Acquisition of Additional 

Acreage for Poplar Grove National Cemetery (Petersburg National Battlefield, 10 February 1978), NPS TIC, File PETE 

D-58.

74 National Park Service, “Development/Study Package Proposal, Cemetery Improvements at Poplar Grove,” approved 

8 November 1976 and finalized 2 August 1977, in “Task Directive: Cemetery Improvements at Poplar Grove, Petersburg 

National Cemetery” (Denver Service Center, finalized 1 March 1978), NPS TIC, document PETE D-36.

75 Task Directive, 1978, 1.

76 Livas & Associates, “Miscellaneous Improvements, Poplar Grove Cemetery” (set of eight plans, cover sheet dated 15 

December 1977), NPS TIC, Drawing PETE 325-41008. 

77 Task Directive, 1978, 1, 4.

78 Superintendent Wallace B. Elms to NPS Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, 1 July 1977, Poplar Grove 

administrative records.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

128

79 “Legislative Materials to support Acquisition of Additional Acreage for Poplar Grove National Cemetery a part of 

Petersburg National Battlefield” (Unpublished report, NPS Mid-Atlantic Region, finalized 10 February 1978), 8, NPS TIC, 

PETE D-58.

80 Included in the “Legislative Materials” package is a communication from Senator Bill Bradley’s office dated 29 October 

1980 requesting the status of a “housing project proposed—next to Petersburg N.B.P.” 

81 Superintendent Frank J. Deckert to Regional Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, 9 September 1987, Poplar Grove 

administrative files.

82 In a letter to Roberta Odom dated 8 March 1990, prior to the contract, Superintendent Frank Deckert wrote: “While 

we cannot obligate future funds or services in any of the documents that enable your donation to occur, you can be assured 

that it is the intent of the National Park Service (NPS) that the donated property (including your family cemetery) will be 

maintained to NPS standards.” Poplar Grove administrative records.

83 “Individual Offer to Donate Real Property” (contract) signed by National Park Foundation on 5 September 1990, in 

letter, Alan A. Rubin, President, National Park Foundation to Gerlad L. Kirwan, Chief, NPS Land Resources Division, 6 

September 1990; Memorandum, Gerald L. Kirwan to Superintendent, Petersburg National Battlefield, 9 April 1991, Poplar 

Grove administrative records; Tracy Allen, NPS Philadelphia Lands Office, telephone conversation with John Auwaerter, 

17 April 2007.

84 Underwood, 14 December 2006. 

85 “Restore Facilities, Resources & Character Defining Elements to National Cemetery Standards—POGR,” PMIS 89424, 

created 8 April 2002, updated 24 January 2005, Petersburg National Battlefield.

86 Poplar Grove burial register; Ben Bagwell, “Poplar Grove Buries Three Unidentified Union Soldiers,” Petersburg 

Progress-Index, 27 May 2003, http://www.progress-index.com.
160

160

170

170

170

170

170

lp

wio wio

s

c

wio

c

lp

ch h

h

yb

yb

M N

P

O O

O

N

N

O

O

O

N

O

O

O

O

D

C B

A

F

E

x x x

x

x

x x

x

x

x

170 Vaughan Road

Site of barbed-wire

fence (1911)

Successional trees

along approach road 

(post-1970)

Approach Road

(20’ right-of-way)

matchline

Cultivated

fields

Odom 

cemetery

(1971) 

Site of farm 

cross road

(c.1911-1970)

Visitor parking

lot (c.1995)

Field

Driveway to

Blaha, Peterson

houses (1972)

Odom tract

(Odom to NPF, 1991)

NPS cemetery sign

Private mailboxes

Successional

woods 

(post-1970)

R. Taylor Farm National Park Foundation

Blaha

R. Taylor

(Formerly

Blaha, Odom)

Remnant allee trees 

Specimen Tree-Shrub Key 

bx Boxwood

c Cedar (Eastern red-cedar)

ch Cherry

cm Crape myrtle 

e Elm

fp Foxtail pine

g Sweet gum

h Holly

hc Horsechestnut

lp Loblolly pine

m Maple (sugar or red)

ma Magnolia

p Poplar (white poplar)

pe Peach

ph Pignut hickory

Tablet Key (tablets removed c.1974)

M General Orders No. 80, Sept. 1, 1875 (1)

N Act to Establish and Protect National 

 Cemeteries, February 22, 1867 (4)

O Four-line verses from 

 “The Bivouac of the Dead” (10) 

P “Visitors Notice, Invitation to Register” (1)

e

lp

lp

lp

lp

pl pl

pl

pl

pl

e

ma ma

e

hc

ma

pe

e e e

e e

e

e

wo m

m m

lp

tp

c

lp

lp

lp

lp

h

h

lp

lp

lp

lp lp

g

rm

m

m

lp

lp

lp

c

m

m

e

p

e

e

e

wc

sg

rm

h

hm

m

c

cm (4)

sm

sg

c

c

c

c

c

h

c

c

rm

c

c

c c

c

lp

lp

c

c

c

bx

h

cm

c

c

h

ph

c

c

c

wio

ro

wio

fp

bx

bx

h cm

bx

bx

bx

bx

bx

bx c rm h

bx bx

bx

bx

ma

c

bx

c

c

c

c

s c

c

rm

bx

lp

lp

c

c

c c c c

c

c

s

pl pl

s

lp

lp

s

e

lp lp lp

c

c

po

po

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

pl Plum

po Pin oak

ro Red oak

s Spruce (Colorado blue, Norway)

sg Sweet-gum

sm Sugar maple

top Tulip poplar

wo Water oak

wio Willow oak

wc White cedar

yb Yellow birch

Species of removed trees indicated where known.

bx

e

Brick inclosure wall (1876)

Stone-post boundary 

markers at corners 

 (typ.)

Iron flagstaff with guy wires

(1931), Reduced in height (c.1974)

Marble gravemarkers (1877)

headstones and blocks

Laid level with ground(1934)

See INSET

INSET

matchline

Gateway

(1876)

Successional 

woods

(post-1970)

Site of wagon road

(c.1870-c.1972)

Mixed woods

Site of well house (c.1871-c.1939) Well cover (c.1939-c.1974)

Lodge

(1871-72) 

Rostrum 

(1897)

Site of boxwood allee

(c.1871-c.1974) 

English ivy on 

inside of inclosure wall

(c.1888-c.1957)

Service yard

(c.1869)

Asphalt pavement

(1931)

Mixed loblolly 

pine-hardwoods

Ditch (c.1869, c.1957)

Site of iron tablet (typ.)

(c.1881-c.1957)

Public restroom

building (1929)

Garage

 (1929)

Site of grape arbor

(c.1872-c.1934)

Site of settee, typ.

(removed c.1974)

Main drive Site of boxwood

Maltese cross

(c.1872-c.1985)

Concrete curb

(1931)

Site of barbedwire fence 

(c.1911-c.1950?)

Site of arborvitae

hedge (c.1888-c.1974)

Successional hedgerow (post-1950)

Pasture

Remains of barbed-wire 

fence along boundary (1937)

New block (section)

(Designated c.1957,

burials 1918-1942)

Blaha-Peterson access drive (1972)

Culvert (c.1972)

x x x

x x Wood plank fence

(c.1970)

Visitor parking lot (c.1995)

Drive markers

(c.1957)

Grave locator-interpretive

aluminum-frame signs (c.1957)

English ivy naturalized

outside of inclosure wall

Vineyard (woods prior to 1972)

Blaha property (formerly Odom)

Blaha

property

Peterson

property

Loblolly 

pines

Peterson

house 

(c.1972)

30’ 

Blaha

house 

(c.1972)

30’ 

Block

XX

Red cedars

along inclosure 

wall (1937-c.1990)

Woods cleared (c.1972)

Site of red cedar 

screening(c.1937)

Three gun monuments removed

(c.1974)

Overhead utlity line (c.1972)

Odom tract 

(Odom to National Park Foundation, 1991)

Part of Odom tract

Gravel path (2003)

Blow-down (1994)

Concrete pads 

from benches

(c.1974-c.1982)

Service drive

(widened c.1974)

Concrete walk

(1929, c.1970?)

R. Taylor farm

(formerly Odom, Blaha)

x

x

National Park Foundation

National Park Service

National Park Foundation

R. Taylor

0’ 150’ 300’

Peterson

property

Richardson property

Former drive

Drive

Drive

Walk

A-a A-b

A-c A-d

A-e

(Block III) A-f

(Block IV)

B-a

B-b

B-c

B-d

B-e

B-f

B-g

B-h

C-b C-a

C-c C-d

C-e

C-f

C-g

C-h

D-a

D-b

D-c

D-d

D-f

(Block XVI)

D-e

(Block XV)

D-g

(Block XVII)

E

(Block XVIII)

F

(Block XIX)

rm

(Block XI) (Block XII)

(Block IX)

(Block II)

(Block I)

(Block XIV) (Block V)

(Block VI)

(Block XIV) (Block VII)

(Block VIII)

(Block IX)

(Block XIV)

(Block II)

(Block VI)

(Block VII)

(Block VIII)

Drawing 1.4

NOTES

wellhead

 (c.1974) B-g

Removed during period

Property line

Inclosure (perimeter) wall

Grave markers (black dash = added grave)

Cemetery division-section 

Building

Road 

Walk

Iron tablet, key reference

Gun monument

Settee

Fence

Drive marker

Conifer tree 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

Lawn

Naturalized English ivy

10' contour 

Drainage through inclosure wall

Wetland 

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

National Park Service 

Period 1933-Present

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

SOURCES

1. PETE GIS Data

2. Proposed planting plan, NPS, 1937

3. Master plan, NPS, c.1941

4. Aerial photograph, spring 2004

5. Burial plan, NPS, c.1957

LEGEND

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter, Illustrator CS3, 2009

0’ 25’ 50’ 75’ 100’

1. Plan represents landscape conditions in 2006, showing features 

removed during the period by dashed lines.

2. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

3. Division and section designations changed to block designation 

by NPS, and radiating avenues designated by letters A-F, c.1957.

O

131 

Existing Conditions

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, an eight-acre burial ground established in 1866 

and presently closed to new burials, contains approximately 6,779 graves, all but 

one percent of which are Civil War soldiers. The cemetery, part of Petersburg 

National Battlefield, is one of fourteen national cemeteries within the National 

Park System. It is not considered part of the National Cemetery System that is 

separately administered by the National Cemetery Administration, an agency of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

The Poplar Grove landscape retains many of its character-defining features dating 

from the cemetery’s initial development by the War Department during the 

nineteenth century as well as much of its historic rural setting. The approach road, 

brick inclosure wall, gates, lodge, and rostrum are standard government features 

that, along with the burial plan, characterize Poplar Grove as a first generation 

national cemetery. The cemetery also retains several later features added during 

the early twentieth century by the War Department including a restroom building 

and garage, as well as signs and some plantings from civilian administration under 

the National Park Service that began in 1933. The conversion of the formerly 

upright headstones and blocks into flat markers in 1934 sets Poplar Grove apart 

from its sister national cemeteries. Although well kept, the landscape has a 

barren feeling that has resulted largely from the loss of vegetation and small-scale 

features.

This chapter provides a narrative overview of the landscape’s existing (2009) 

condition, supported by photographs and a graphic plan. The narrative also 

describes the cemetery’s environmental conditions, regional context, and 

operations pertaining to the landscape.1

 For the purposes of this report, the 

cemetery landscape is described as the area presently owned or managed by the 

National Park Service, and the adjoining private property that constitutes the 

cemetery’s setting. While the National Park Service does not presently own any 

of the land outside of the cemetery inclosure wall, it is working with adjoining 

owners to preserve the rural setting.

Regional context

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is in the Rohoic District of Dinwiddie County, 

approximately one-half mile south of the Petersburg city boundary and roughly 

halfway between Interstate 85 to the west and Interstate 95 to the east (fig. 2.1). 

While much of Dinwiddie County is rural in character, the area surrounding 

Poplar Grove is a suburban patchwork of woods, farms, residential development, 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

132

Figure 2.1: Map of Petersburg 

National Battlefield showing park 

lands and the Siege Line Tour in 

relation to the city of Petersburg 

(yellow area) and Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery (indicated by 

black arrow). (Petersburg National 

Battlefield park brochure, 1996, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.2: The setting of Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery showing 

city boundary, roads, rail line, 

suburban development, and park 

lands. (SUNY ESF.)
133 

Existing Conditions

and light industry. Situated within the 

Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area, 

Dinwiddie County has experienced a growth 

rate of over six percent since 2000, with a 

population of 26,082 in 2008. The city of 

Petersburg declined in population by four 

percent since 2000 to 32,445 residents in 

2006.2

Petersburg National Battlefield’s sixteenmile Siege Line Tour includes Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery as stop #11. 

The tour route follows Flank Road (Route 

676), originally completed by the Civilian 

Conservation Corps as a park road in 1934, 

extended to Vaughan Road (Route 675) in 1944, and then completed through the 

Federal Left Flank west of Squirrel Level Road in the 1960s. The National Park 

Service transferred ownership of Flank Road east of Vaughan Road to the City 

of Petersburg in 1973, but the newer section in the Federal Left Flank remains in 

park ownership. Poplar Grove is one-half mile south of Flank Road on Vaughan 

Road, a narrow two-lane road. South of the cemetery are the sites of several 

fortifications from the Union Army’s rear siege line, including Forts Clarke and 

Siebert, that are not part of the national battlefield. 

The landscape of the Siege Line Tour near Poplar Grove is characterized by 

secondary roads, cultivated fields, woods, and suburban houses (figs. 2.2, 2.3). 

Northeast of the cemetery is Cerny Pond, a ten-acre water body constructed 

after 1955. Beyond the pond and about 2,500 feet east of the cemetery is the 

CSX “S” Line railroad and Collier Yard. This line was the Petersburg & Weldon 

Railroad during the Civil War and later became the Atlantic (Seaboard) Coast 

Line Railroad. It is a 126-mile corridor between Petersburg and Raleigh, North 

Carolina that is currently being studied for reconstruction as part of the Southeast 

High Speed Rail Corridor.3

 The railroad and much of the modern development in 

the vicinity are not visible from within the cemetery. 

Environmental conditions

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is near the Fall Line, the boundary zone between 

the Tidewater and the Piedmont, in a broad level area characterized by overlap of 

Coastal Plain sedimentary soils on Appalachian Plateau bedrock, with numerous 

swamps and minor ravines created by small streams.4

 Native surface soils within 

the cemetery and along the approach road are Mattaponi and Slagle sandy loams, 

Figure 2.3: A suburban residence 

on Vaughan Road opposite the 

cemetery entrance, looking 

northwest with the cemetery sign 

at left and the approach road at 

right. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

134

which are moderately well drained and very deep soils formed in loamy and clayey 

sediments deposited by ancient rivers and seas. Soils are generally sixty inches 

deep and have slow permeability with medium surface runoff. Ph ranges from 

strongly acid to extremely acid. Both Mattaponi and Slagle are considered good 

soils for hardwoods and conifers. 5 Initial development of the cemetery probably 

resulted in some intermixing of these soils, but probably did not alter the overall 

composition. No record was found suggesting that substantial amounts of topsoil 

were imported to the site. Trees commonly found on Mattaponi soils include 

loblolly pine, white oak, Virginia pine, and sweetgum; on Slagle soils, loblolly pine, 

sweet-gum, southern red oak, water oak, and yellow poplar (tulip-tree).6 There are 

no known rare or endangered plants or animals within or adjoining the cemetery.

The climate in southeastern Virginia is classified as humid subtropical, with short 

winters and long summers. Poplar Grove is located on the boundary between 

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7A and 7B, with minimum low temperature of zero 

to ten degrees (Fahrenheit). Average daily maximum temperatures reach a high 

of eighty-nine degrees during July. Precipitation averages between three and four 

inches per month, with a total yearly average of 45.76 inches. Snowfall totals 10.4 

inches in an average year.7

Operations overview

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is open year-round to the public daily from 

dawn to dusk. The main public event at the cemetery is Memorial Day, when each 

grave is decorated with a small United States flag and a ceremony is held near the 

rostrum on the lodge grounds. 

Aside from the standard metal park sign on Vaughan Road, the cemetery is only 

identified by two small shield-shaped plaques on the entrance gates that read 

“U.S. National Cemetery.” There is no sign with the name Poplar Grove near the 

cemetery entrance. Visitors generally arrive by car or bus and park in the small lot 

outside of the cemetery gates. Cars are allowed to drive into the cemetery along 

the main drive only if necessary for accessibility. If two cars need to pass on the 

main drive within the burial grounds, they must ride over gravestones. 

A park ranger is stationed in the lodge, which serves as a contact station, on a parttime basis from mid-June through mid-August to provide interpretation and assist 

with inquiries into burials and grave locations. The lodge is not used as a residence 

and is not furnished for visitor orientation or interpretation. Exterior interpretive 

materials include Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address plaque affixed to the front of the 

lodge, a faded cemetery plan and burial register posted in large signs to either side 

of the flagstaff, and a sepia-tone brochure that discusses the establishment of the 
135 

Existing Conditions

cemetery and the search and recovery program. Interpretation of the landscape 

and development of the cemetery is generally provided verbally by park rangers. 

Visitor amenities are limited to a public restroom building at the rear of the lodge. 

There are no benches within the cemetery, aside from a staff picnic table in the 

service yard. 

Maintenance of the landscape is under the direction of the Facility Manager of 

Petersburg National Battlefield. There is currently no dedicated maintenance staff, 

but rather on average three to five park staff or inmates routinely mow and clean 

the site once every three weeks from April to November. Maintenance operations 

and equipment are housed in the cemetery garage and its surrounding service 

yard, which is open to view from the rest of the cemetery. 

Maintenance work is primarily focused on lawn mowing and trimming, which is 

done by riding mowers and power trimmers. The park does not have an approved 

program of fertilization or herbicide use for the lawn. Hazard trees are removed 

as needed, but are not currently being replaced, pending an approved landscape 

treatment plan. In addition to vegetation maintenance, the park cleans and levels 

some of the grave markers each year with seasonal staff, but total annual time 

spent on this is usually no more than fifty hours. In the inclosure (perimeter 

outside of the wall), the park clears a narrow corridor to allow access to the wall 

for inspection purposes, and to clean the drains of debris. The park does not 

maintain the adjoining woods, which are on private property. Along the cemetery 

approach, the park maintains the parking lot and a small private cemetery, and 

mows the shoulders along the approach road. 

Cemetery landscape 

The following description of the cemetery landscape is organized into six 

character areas: cemetery setting and approach (private land), inclosure (federally 

owned perimeter), lodge grounds, service yard, and burial grounds. Existing 

conditions are documented in photographs keyed to drawing 2.1 (Existing 

Conditions Plan). 

Cemetery setting and Approach 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is set back from Vaughan Road behind farm 

fields and woods. The National Park Service owns only the 8.7 acres within the 

cemetery walls; the surrounding land is privately owned, with the approach road 

subject to a federal right-of-way granted to the federal government in 1877 (the 

road is an original part of the cemetery as established in 1866). The 1877 deed did 

not state the width of the right-of-way, but the National Park Service Regional 

Solicitor determined in 1976 that it amounted to the historical usage of thirty feet 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

136

in width.8 The head of the approach road at 

Vaughan Road is located on or adjoining the 

thirty-four acre Harrison property (fig. 2.4; 

see also fig. 1.81). Most of the land between 

Vaughan Road and the cemetery is part of 

the thirty-eight acre farm owned by Richard 

Taylor that was previously owned by the 

Flower, Blaha, and Odom families. This 

property is used for growing corn in the fields 

bordering the approach road (fig. 2.5). A barn 

and fenced corral on the farm are visible from 

the cemetery gates (fig. 2.6). 

Between the R. Taylor farm and the cemetery 

is a 3.7-acre parcel owned by the National 

Park Foundation, a private non-profit 

partner of the National Park Service (see 

fig. 2.4). The foundation intended to give 

this parcel, known as the Odom tract after 

the previous owner, to the National Park 

Service when it acquired it in 1991, but 

was unable to do so because of the park’s 

land acquisition boundary that ended at 

the cemetery property line. The land was 

historically fields, but the main part of the 

tract north of the approach road fell out of 

agricultural use by the 1960s. Since the 1970s 

natural succession has given way to woods 

of loblolly pine and mixed deciduous trees. 

Figure 2.4 (top): Map of current (2009) property 

ownership surrounding Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.5 (middle): Cultivated fields of the R. Taylor 

farm looking southeast from the cemetery approach 

road. In the distance is the farmhouse. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.)

Figure 2.6 (bottom): The barn and pasture on the R. 

Taylor farm, view from the approach road near the 

cemetery gates looking southwest. The mown field in 

the foreground is part the Odom tract owned by the 

National Park Foundation. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Not to scale
137 

Existing Conditions

The parcel includes the cemetery parking 

lot, Odom family cemetery, and a part of the 

approach road.

Along the north side and east sides of the 

cemetery and Odom tract is the twelve-acre 

Blaha property that was historically woods 

(see fig. 2.4). The tract includes a gravel 

driveway built in c.1972 that extends from 

the approach road and parallels the north 

side of the inclosure wall (fig. 2.7). The 

thin margin of woods along the cemetery 

boundary allows views of a utility line that 

runs along the driveway and a field that is 

used as a vineyard. The driveway leads to a 

house located off the northeast corner of the 

cemetery (fig. 2.8). This driveway continues 

south to an adjoining house on the sixteenacre Peterson property (fig. 2.9). Both of 

these houses were built in c.1972 on land 

that was historically wooded. To the south 

of the cemetery are undeveloped woods 

that are part of the eleven-acre Richardson 

property (see figs. 2.4, 1.83). 

The 1,025-foot approach road to Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery extends 

southeasterly from Vaughan Road in an arc 

Figure 2.7 (top): The private drive to the Blaha and 

Peterson houses, looking from the northwest corner 

of the cemetery, with partially cleared land in the 

distance. The orange stake marks the National Park 

Service property boundary. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.8 (middle): The Blaha house, looking east 

with the cemetery inclosure wall in the foreground. 

This area was historically woods. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.9 (bottom): The Peterson house, looking 

northeast with the cemetery inclosure wall in the 

foreground. This area was historically woods. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

138

to the cemetery gates. The western part of 

the approach road (700 feet) is located on 

the R. Taylor Farm and the eastern part (325 

feet) is within the National Park Foundationowned Odom Tract. The driveway to the 

Blaha and Peterson houses branches 

off the north side of the approach road 

approximately 680 feet from Vaughan Road. 

The entrance to the approach road, bordered 

by woods that have grown up on former 

farm fields, is marked by an inconspicuous 

National Park Service sign (fig. 2.10). A 

cluster of private mailboxes at the north 

corner of the road belong to the Blaha and 

Peterson houses east of the cemetery and 

houses along the west side of Vaughan Road. 

The approach road is approximately twelve 

feet or one lane wide with mown shoulders, 

and is paved in asphalt with a sand top coat 

(fig. 2.11). The land approximately ten feet to 

either side of the pavement is mown and is 

lined by groves of trees that form hedgerows 

along the adjoining fields. These trees are 

a mixture of volunteer and a small number 

of planted specimens that are remnants of 

a former allee that extended from Vaughan 

Road to the cemetery gates. The allee trees 

are identified by circular metal inventory 

Figure 2.10 (top): The approach road entrance to 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, looking south on 

Vaughan Road. (SUNY ESF, 2006.) 

Figure 2.11 (middle): The approach road looking 

west toward Vaughan Road from the private 

driveway (at right) showing pavement and 

bordering trees. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.12 (bottom): The approach road, looking 

east through the Odom tract showing adjoining 

woods on former farm fields. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
139 

Existing Conditions

tags, probably installed in the late 1930s by National Park Service as part of the 

cemetery master plan completed in 1941. 

Through the National Park Foundation-owned Odom tract, the approach road 

is lined by woods and remnant allee trees (fig. 2.12). On the south side of the 

road approximately 200 feet west of the cemetery gates is a small (0.05 acre) 

family burial plot established by the Odom family in 1971 (fig. 2.13). Surrounded 

by a cyclone fence, the cemetery contains two headstones, one with two graves 

dating to 1971 and 1981, and the other with two graves dating to 1971 and 1993. 

A government-issued grave marker is located at the foot of the grave of Lester 

Grady, who served in the Navy. The cemetery was acquired by National Park 

Foundation as part of the Odom tract in 1991 based on the condition that family 

members would be allowed access to the cemetery, and on the intent that the park 

would maintain the cemetery according to National Park Service standards.

Across from the Odom cemetery is the 

visitor parking lot, which dominates the view 

upon approach to the cemetery gates (fig. 

2.14). Built by the park in c.1995, the lot has 

an irregular boundary measuring 175 feet 

long by forty feet wide, with separate entry 

and exit points at the east and west ends, and 

a narrow island separating the lot from the 

approach road. The parking lot is unmarked 

and can accommodate two buses and 

approximately ten cars. 

Figure 2.14 (bottom): The visitor parking lot, looking 

east from the approach road toward the cemetery 

gates. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.13 (top): The Odom cemetery, looking 

southeast from the approach road. The split-rail 

fence is on the adjoining R. Taylor farm. In front of 

the cemetery is a remnant allee tree. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

140

Inclosure 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is 

enclosed by a four-foot high red brick wall 

that measures 2,700 feet long . Known in 

national cemeteries as the inclosure wall, 

the structure was completed in 1876 and is 

divided into 132 twenty-foot long sections 

divided by piers capped with sandstone caps 

(fig. 2.15). Portions of the wall are in poor 

condition due to loose and deteriorated 

mortar and settling. At eight low points, 

there are openings in the wall that drain 

the cemetery through grass swales. Several 

openings contain brick or concrete scuppers 

that extend beyond the wall. The opening 

with the greatest drainage, at the lowpoint 

of the cemetery (northwest side) feeds into a 

concrete spillway or ditch that runs through 

a concrete culvert below the private driveway 

into wetlands to the north (fig. 2.16). The 

ditch does not adequately drain the interior 

of the cemetery, leading to standing water 

remaining within the burial grounds after 

periods of rain. Similar problems occur at 

another drainage opening along the south 

side of the wall.

The cemetery entrance gate, built as part 

of the inclosure wall in 1876, consists of 

individual wrought-iron swinging gates hung 

from granite posts with chamfered edges and 

Figure 2.15 (top): The inclosure wall, looking along 

the south side of the cemetery at Block II. This view 

shows an area of poor drainage. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.16 (middle): The drainage opening at the 

cemetery lowpoint in Block XVIII, looking north with 

the Blaha driveway in the background. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.)

Figure 2.17 (bottom): The cemetery entrance gate, 

looking west from inside the cemetery. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.)
141 

Existing Conditions

pyramidal tops (fig. 2.17). The structure has a 

central vehicular entrance with paired gates, 

flanked on each side by pedestrian entrances 

with single gates. The vehicular gates swing 

inward to iron stops. Cast metal shields with 

the inscription “U.S. National Cemetery,” 

added in c.1935, are affixed to the piers to 

either side of the vehicular entrance (fig. 

2.18).

Outside of the wall, National Park Serviceowned land ranges from approximately 

two to fifteen feet in width. The corners 

of the federally owned cemetery property 

are marked by stone boundary posts installed in 1877, along with later pipes 

and orange stakes (fig. 2.19). The outside face of the wall abuts a cleared area 

of approximately five feet. Beyond this cleared area are naturalized plantings 

and woods (fig. 2.20). The woods on portions of the west and south sides of the 

cemetery provide solid walls of vegetation, while the woods on the north and east 

are thin and allow screened views to the adjoining houses, fields, and driveway. 

The woods consist primarily of loblolly pine, red maple, sumac, sweet-gum, and 

oak. Several large loblolly pines along the north enclosure are declining or dead. 

English ivy, escaped from plantings on the interior face of the inclosure wall 

made in c.1888, is a common ground cover in these woods along with poison 

ivy. There are some Eastern red-cedars outside of the wall that are remnants of 

a 1937 planting, notably near the entrance gates and south of the lodge grounds. 

Figure 2.18 (top left): The 

cemetery entrance gate looking 

east into the cemetery showing 

plaques added after 1933. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.19 (bottom): A typical 

stone boundary marking a corner 

of the federal property, with later 

pipe and stake markers. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.20 (top right): The 

woods along the north side of the 

cemetery, looking west showing 

English ivy groundcover and high 

canopy. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

142

This latter group contains remnants of postand-barbed-wire fencing installed in 1937 

to protect the trees from livestock in the 

adjoining pasture. 

Lodge Grounds

Just inside the main entrance gates is the 

lodge and its adjoining grounds that serves as 

the cemetery’s assembly area. The lodge is a 

one and one-half story Second Empire-style 

stone residence constructed in 1871-1872 

according to a standardized plan developed 

by Quartermaster General Montgomery 

Meigs (fig. 2.21). The ‘L’-plan building, with 

overall dimensions of twenty by thirty-three 

feet, has dressed random-course ashlar walls, 

six-over-six sash windows, an open front 

porch, and a green-painted standing-seam 

metal roof that replaced an earlier slate 

roof. Affixed to the front of the building is a 

standard plaque with Lincoln’s Gettysburg 

address added in c.1913. At the rear of the 

lodge is a one-story stuccoed kitchen wing 

built in 1914. Since 2001, the lodge has been 

used as an occasional public contact station 

rather than a residence. 

South of the lodge is the public restroom 

building, a simple Colonial Revival-style 

building constructed in 1929 according to plans by the Quartermaster General 

Third Corps Area, Baltimore (see fig. 2.21). The white-painted stucco-faced tile 

building, measuring twenty-four by fourteen, has a green-painted standing seam 

metal gable roof with eaves returns, three-light single sash windows, four-light 

paneled doors, a utility room, and separate rest rooms for men and women. The 

building’s septic field is located in the lawn to the east. The restrooms are screened 

from the rear yard of the lodge by a wood plank privacy fence, and a concrete 

walk connects through this yard to a rear entrance on the lodge. An earthen path 

built on fill provides the primary public route to the restrooms. This path blocks 

the drainage swale that extends from the lodge downspouts to the nearby drain 

opening in the inclosure wall.

Figure 2.21 (top): The east side 

of the lodge with its rear kitchen 

wing addition, and the restroom 

building looking across the lodge 

grounds from the rostrum. The 

front of the lodge faces the main 

drive at right. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.22 (bottom): The rostrum, 

looking southeast from the 

main drive during a Memorial 

Day ceremony. (Betsy Dinger, 

Petersburg National Battlefield, 

2005.)
143 

Existing Conditions

At the east side of the lodge grounds is a bandstand, known in national cemeteries 

as a rostrum. Completed in 1897, the rostrum reflects the Aesthetic Movement in 

its decoration. It is an octagonal structure sixteen feet in diameter, with a six-foot 

high brick base, iron steps, and a cast- and wrought-iron superstructure with a 

concave metal roof (fig. 2.22). The grounds between the rostrum and the lodge 

consist of open lawn that is used as an assembly area. There are no trees or shrubs 

here except for two large boxwoods that are remnants of once extensive plantings 

in the area. 

Service Yard

The service yard, a small area across from the lodge grounds next to the cemetery 

entrance, is the current maintenance area. The service yard, which was once 

enclosed by a hedge, is defined on the west and north sides by the inclosure wall, 

and is open on the remaining sides. To the east, the service yard abuts the graves 

in Block XVIII. At the rear of the yard is the garage that was built in 1929 at the 

same time as the restroom building and in a 

similar Colonial Revival style, according to 

plans by the Quartermaster General Third 

Corps Area, Baltimore (fig. 2.23). Originally 

designed as a stable and garage with a loft, 

it is a one-story building measuring thirtyeight feet by twenty-two feet, with two sets 

of swinging garage doors, six-over-six sash 

windows, unpainted stucco siding, and a 

standing-seam metal gable roof with eaves 

returns. At the rear of the building is a later 

frame shed addition. The garage is presently 

used for storage and to house the cemetery’s 

maintenance equipment. 

Leading up to the garage is a short gravel drive, once much narrower, that is used 

for maintenance vehicles and as a staging area. It is paved in asphalt with a gravel 

top coat matching the main drive. West of the drive and garage is an open area of 

rough lawn used to park maintenance vehicles. In this area is a wellhead added in 

c.1974, a picnic table for park staff, a single Eastern red-cedar tree, and an aged 

southern magnolia at the corner of the service drive and main drive. 

Burial Grounds

The burial grounds constitute the majority of the cemetery area at 7.13 acres. 

The graves are arranged in a radial plan organized around a central flagstaff, with 

circular and radiating drives. On the east and west sides of the cemetery, the plan 

Figure 2.23: The garage and 

service yard, looking west from 

the burial grounds toward the 

cemetery entrance gate. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

144

transitions to a rectilinear organization that 

follows the property boundaries. Drives 

define the limits of the thirty-one burial 

sections, which are presently defined by 

twenty-two blocks identified by Roman 

numerals I through XXII. The sections 

were originally organized into six divisions 

lettered A through F, corresponding to the 

four cemetery quadrants along with two 

outlying sections. There are no markers in 

the cemetery identifying either the blocks or 

the divisions and sections. 

Drives and Walks

The drives (circulation between original 

grave sections) and walks (the narrower 

circulation between the grave rows) are all 

turf, except for the main drive, which has 

been paved in asphalt since 1931. The turf 

drives and walks blend in with the larger 

lawn and are therefore difficult to discern in 

the landscape (fig. 2.24). All of the original 

drives and walks remain, except for the 

central walk in Block IX (north of flagstaff), 

which was filled with graves between 1896 

and 1918. The radiating drives with the 

exception of the main drive are designated 

by letters, A through F. The main drive is 

approximately eleven feet wide and has a 

worn gravel top coat on black asphalt (fig. 2.25). The drive encircles the flagstaff 

in a tear-drop shaped loop, an alignment that replaced the original circle when 

the drive was paved in 1931. At the south side of the loop, there is thirty feet of 

concrete curbing added at the time of the 1931 paving and realignment to avoid 

grading over the adjoining headstones. 

Cemetery Center

The center of the cemetery is the ceremonial and symbolic heart of Poplar 

Grove. It consists of a forty-foot wide circular lawn with a forty-foot tall whitepainted iron flagstaff at its center (fig. 2.26). This flagstaff, lower in height than 

the surrounding trees, consists of three sections connected by bolted flanges, an 

iron base and square concrete pad, and a small ball finial. As originally installed 

in 1930, this pole was approximately twice that height and was secured with 

Figure 2.24 (top): Characteristic 

turf drive and walks, looking 

northwest toward the main drive 

in Division A between sections e 

and d (Blocks II and III). The wider 

space is a drive, the narrower 

space between the rows of grave 

markers are walks. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.)

Figure 2.25 (bottom): The main 

drive, looking east from near the 

rostrum showing asphalt paving 

with gravel surface coat. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)
145 

Existing Conditions

four cable guy wires. The flagstaff is illuminated by a contemporary floodlight 

concealed by a boxwood shrub at the head of the main drive. To either side of the 

flagstaff are interpretive signs in brushed aluminum frames installed in c.1957, 

measuring fifty-seven inches wide and eighty inches tall. One sign contains the 

burial register, the other an illustrated plan of the cemetery by block, with text on 

 the history of the cemetery and a drawing of Poplar Grove Church, the namesake 

of the cemetery. The church faced the flagstaff to the north in Block IX prior to its 

removal in 1868. 

Along the outer edge of the encircling drive north of the flagstaff is an upright 

cannon, known in national cemeteries as a gun monument (fig. 2.27). This is one 

of four matching gun monuments that were installed symmetrically around the 

central circular drive in 1869; three were removed in c.1974. The remaining gun 

monument was the primary one, distinguished by a bronze plaque indicating 

the burial record tally to date and the name of the cemetery. The black-painted 

monument is a thirty-two pound Columbiad cannon tube from Fort Monroe 

in Hampton, Virginia. It is set vertically on a cracked, three-foot by six-foot 

concrete pad, and measures six feet-seven inches tall. The original cannonball cap 

is missing. In front of the cannon is a pyramidal stack of shot (nineteen cannon 

balls). Also along the outer edge of the encircling drive are six small metal markers 

with raised letters A through F identifying the radiating drives (fig. 2.28). These 

Figure 2.26 (left): The center of 

the cemetery, looking northeast 

from the main drive showing 

the flagstaff, teardrop-shaped 

loop in the main drive, and 

interpretive signs. The boxwood 

shrub in the foreground conceals 

a contemporary floodlight. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.27 (right): The remnant 

gun monument with its paintedover bronze plaque and missing 

cannonball cap, view looking 

northwest. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

146

markers, installed in c.1957, measure four by five inches and are 

mounted on a low pipe pole. 

Grave Markers 

The approximately 5,615 graves at Poplar Grove, interred 

between 1866 and 2003, contain flat markers set in either circular 

or straight rows. Due to their position and small size, the grave 

markers are inconspicuous features in the landscape, giving 

Poplar Grove the character of a lawn-style cemetery. The markers 

fall into three categories: headstones transformed into flat markers, blocks 

(square posts) for unknown graves transformed into flat markers, and flat markers 

originally installed flat. Set directly in the ground without footings, many of the 

markers have settled and drifted out of alignment in their rows. Most markers 

are flush with the ground, but some are about an inch above grade, while others 

have sunken. Rows are generally spaced eight feet apart on center. Space between 

markers ranges from approximately 3.5 feet to 4.5 feet on center within the inner 

circular sections, but is approximately four feet elsewhere. Markers generally align 

with an underlying grave, although there is variability.9

The grave markers are overall in poor condition characterized by heavy chipping 

along the edges, cracking, and weathering with eroded edges and sugared 

surfaces. All of the headstones installed before 1934 have had their bases (original 

subsurface sections) removed, with a rough cut or break along the bottom of the 

existing stones. Although the park has cleaned many of the markers in recent 

years, a large percentage has heavy accumulations of dirt and biological matter, 

especially on the headstones with recessed shields that capture water. The heaviest 

Figure 2.28: One of the metal signs 

along the central circular loop of 

the main drive identifying radial 

drive “E.” (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

TABLE 2.1: TALLY OF EXISTING GRAVE MARKERS 

POPLAR GROVE NATIONAL CEMETERY 11 

Type Number Percent of 

Known 

Markers 

(2,338) 

Percent of all 

grave markers 

(5,615) 

Recessed Shield Headstones 2,105 90% 37% 

 1st generation 2,046 88% 37% 

 2nd generation 59 2% >1% 

Unknown Blocks 3,277 n/a 58% 

General Headstones 13 >1% >1% 

Government Flat Markers 216 9% 4% 

Medal of Flat Honor Markers 2 >1% >1% 

Non-Government Headstones 26 >1% >1% 
147 

Existing Conditions

stained stones are generally in shady and wet locations. Despite their poor 

condition, most of the grave markers are legible. Although in recent years the park 

has curtailed its maintenance of the markers due to budget and staffing limitation, 

it continues to keep the grass trimmed around the markers. 

There are six types of grave markers at Poplar Grove as described below. Table 2.1 

details the number of each type and its percentage of the total number of grave 

markers. 

Recessed-Shield Headstones (figs. 2.29, 2.30)

The 2,105 recessed shield headstones mark known graves of Civil War soldiers 

and later burials for pre-World War I veterans. There are two types at Poplar 

Grove: smaller first generation type (often referred to as Civil War-style 

headstones) installed between 1877 and c.1904, and larger second-generation type 

(often called Spanish-American War headstones) installed between c.1904 and 

1934. The first generation type constitute the majority at 2,046, most installed in 

1877; 59 are the second-generation type. All were transformed into flat markers in 

1934. 

The first generation recessed-shield headstones, which mark only known graves, 

are Vermont white marble cambered-profile tablets measuring ten inches wide 

Figure 2.29: Representative 

first-generation recessed-shield 

headstones installed in 1877 and 

transformed into flat markers in 

1934. These photographs illustrate 

characteristic chipping, cracking, 

weathering, and staining. The bases 

were cut or broken off. (Petersburg 

National Battlefield, 2005.)

Figure 2.30: Representative 

second-generation recessed-shield 

headstones, showing condition 

issues and two different types 

of fonts. The stones at left and 

right are categorized by the park 

as style A; the one in the middle 

with the cambered font, style B. 

The headstone at left replaced an 

unknown block. (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

148

and four inches thick. Most are approximately eighteen inches long, generally 

corresponding with the original above-ground section. The inscription is set in a 

recessed six-point shield, within which is the grave number at the top, the name in 

the middle, and the state regiment at the bottom. The size of the shield is generally 

consistent in width, but varies in height according to the size of the inscription. 

The headstones are perpendicular to the row (short side at the top of the grave). 

Several are oriented in line with the row (long side at the top of the grave). 

Locations of the headstones do not follow a regular pattern, but rather reflect how 

bodies were brought into the cemetery for burial. 

The second-generation recessed-shield headstones mark both known and 

unknown graves. These headstones are scattered around the cemetery, with a 

concentration in the center walk in Block IX. Each headstone is a marble (origin 

unknown), cambered-profile tablet measuring twelve inches wide and four 

inches thick. Most are approximately eighteen inches long, corresponding with 

the original above-ground section. The inscription, created through hammering 

rather than sand-blasting, is set in a recessed six-point shield, within which is the 

grave number at the top, the name in the middle, and the regiment at the bottom. 

Two different fonts are found on these second-generation headstones at Poplar 

Grove (styles A and B as categorized by the park). 

Unknown Blocks (fig. 2.31)

The 3,277 blocks at Poplar Grove, installed along with the headstones in 1877, 

mark unknown graves that are located throughout the cemetery. The blocks are 

set either flush or slightly above grade. Each block is a post of Vermont white 

marble measuring six inches square and thirty inches long, originally specified 

for installation at four inches above grade. The inscription, limited to the grave 

number and the number of remains in the grave if more than one, is inscribed in 

the top of the block.

General Headstones (fig. 2.32)

The thirteen General headstones at Poplar Grove, installed between c.1922 and 

2003, mark the graves of World War I veterans, post-World War II Civil War 

reinterments, and pre-1934 graves (installed as replacements for recessed-shield 

Figure 2.31: Representative 

unknown blocks installed in 1877 

and transformed into flat markers 

in 1934. The block at right marks 

a grave containing two remains. 

(Petersburg National Battlefield, 

2005.)
149 

Existing Conditions

headstones). Scattered around the cemetery, the General headstones are white 

marble cambered-profile tablets, measuring thirteen inches wide, four inches 

thick, and approximately eighteen inches long (twenty-four inch base removed). 

The incised inscription, without a shield, includes an emblem of faith at the top, 

followed by the name, rank, and date of death. The General headstones dating 

prior to World War II have a different font than those used after the war and do 

not have the grave number inscribed on the front. The latter headstones have the 

grave number inscribed in the upper right corner.

Government Flat Markers (fig. 2.33)

The approximately 216 flat markers at Poplar Grove, installed between c.1939 and 

c.1980, mark the graves of World War I and II veterans, and were also installed as 

replacements for headstones and blocks on earlier graves. 10 The flat markers are 

scattered around the cemetery, with a concentration of new burials in Block XX. 

These markers are white marble and measure twenty-four inches long, twelve 

inches wide, and four inches thick, oriented with the long side at the top of the 

grave. The inscription includes an emblem of faith at the top for known burials, 

followed by the name, state, regiment, and date of death. Those installed prior to 

c.1945 have a stylized font and the grave number below the emblem of faith; later 

flat markers have a different font and the grave number at the upper right corner. 

Figure 2.32: General headstones 

introduced in 1922, showing preWorld War II design (left) transformed 

to a flat marker, and post-war design 

(current Veterans Administration 

standard) installed as replacement 

flat markers at Civil War graves. 

(Petersburg National Battlefield, 

2005.)

Figure 2.33: Government flat 

markers installed at Poplar Grove 

beginning in c.1939, showing font 

used prior to c.1945 (left) and later 

font (right). (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

150

Medal of Honor Flat Markers (fig. 2.34)

There are two Medal of Honor flat markers at Poplar Grove, installed as 

replacements for earlier government Civil War headstones at some point after 

1940. They are flat markers made of bronze, measuring twenty-four inches long, 

twelve inches wide, and three-quarters inch thick, set on a concrete foundation. 

The marker has a raised, polished narrow border and inscription, with the Medal 

of Honor symbol at the top of the grave. 

Non-Government Headstones (figs. 2.35, 2.36) 

There are approximately twenty-six non-government headstones at Poplar 

Grove (these are also classified by a cemetery inventory as private, unique, 

Figure 2.35: Three of the five 

of non-government headstones 

installed between 1866 and 1869. 

The two headstones at right were 

probably removed from a separate 

plinth; the one at left was apparently 

broken off (the iron bolts are from a 

c.1915 repair). (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.)

Figure 2.36: Examples of nongovernment headstones installed 

after 1877, showing variations in 

profile and inscriptions. (Petersburg 

National Battlefield, 2005.)

Figure 2.34: One of two Medal 

of Honor markers, installed as a 

replacement after 1940. (Petersburg 

National Battlefield, 2005.)
151 

Existing Conditions

recut, and odd). Of these, five are large, relatively elaborate tablet headstones 

installed between c.1866 and c.1869. These headstones feature gabled, Gothic, 

and semicircular profiles, with text and graphic inscriptions including religious 

and Masonic symbolism. One was broken in 1915 and was repaired with iron 

bolts. These are the oldest grave markers in the cemetery, dating to the time when 

the government-issued marker was a wooden headboard. The headstones were 

transformed into flat markers in 1934, either through cutting off the subgrade base 

or removing the headstone from a separate plinth. No documentation survives on 

the appearance of the plinths. 

In addition to these early markers, there are also twenty-one non-government 

headstones installed between c.1880 and c.1933, scattered at various grave 

sites throughout the cemetery. These are replacement markers for government 

headstones or markers for civilian graves, including two infants of cemetery 

superintendents. These markers were probably locally made, with cambered, 

square, and gabled profiles. One headstone (grave 3162) appears to have been 

inscribed by an amateur. None contains the six-point shield found on the Civil 

War and Spanish-American War headstones. Originally installed as upright 

headstones, they were transformed into flat markers along with all other 

headstones in 1934. 

Trees and Shrubs

Vegetation within the burial grounds consists 

of specimen trees and shrubs; there are no 

herbaceous beds or groundcovers other than 

turf. The twenty-eight existing specimen 

trees within the burial grounds are widely and 

informally distributed across the landscape, with 

concentrations along the inclosure wall, main 

drive, and central circle/loop (fig. 2.37). There 

are a few large areas without any trees, notably in 

Block II, Blocks VI and VII, and Block XVIII. The 

trees are generally planted in the walks and along 

the edges of the drives, although some are planted 

within the rows, causing heaving of the adjoining 

markers (fig. 2.38). A concentration of trees around 

the central circle blocks views of the flagstaff from 

outlying graves. 

The dominant tree is Eastern red-cedar (38 

specimens), followed by holly (9), red maple 

(5), willow oak (5), and loblolly pine (4). Species 

Figure 2.37 (top): General view of 

specimen trees, looking northeast 

from main drive and service drive, 

with holly in center foreground, 

red maples to right, and tall 

loblolly pine in the left distance. 

(SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.38 (bottom): A large 

sweet-gum tree within a grave 

row in Block XIV, looking west 

showing heaving of adjoining 

headstones. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

152

numbering three or fewer include ash, pignut hickory, red oak, 

southern magnolia, sugar maple, sweet-gum, tulip-poplar, 

white-cedar (false cypress), and yellow birch (see Appendix G). 

The trees generally are between fifty and eighty years old, with 

a few specimens more than one hundred years old, and several 

trees younger than thirty years. Specimens notable for their age 

and large size include two water oaks in the southeast corner in 

Blocks IV and VIIII, a Southern magnolia north of the flagstaff 

in Block IX, four loblolly pines in Blocks XIV and XVI, and the 

white-cedar in Block xi (fig. 2.39). The loblolly pines may be 

remnants of those that existed at the time of the cemetery’s initial 

establishment. The trees are generally in good condition, although 

one of the loblolly pines is nearly dead, and a number of the redcedars are declining. 

Shrubs within the burial grounds are maintained 

in their natural habit, and are limited to boxwood 

and crape myrtle. The crape myrtles, planted by the 

National Park Service after 1933, are in a cluster 

of four within Drive D near the flagstaff, with a 

few individual specimens scattered elsewhere (fig. 

2.40). There is an aged boxwood near the rostrum 

and two along the drive (between Blocks XVI and 

XVIII) that are remnants of a shrub allee planted in 

c.1871. Within the center circle, a young boxwood 

conceals the flagstaff floodlight. 

Figure 2.39 (top): A large white-cedar, also known as false cypress, in Block XI, 

looking northeast. The tree is probably more than one hundred years old. The 

adjoining tree is a red maple, one of the youngest trees in the cemetery. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.40 (middle): A group of crape myrtle shrubs east of the flagstaff in 

drive D, looking northeast. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 2.41 (bottom): One of three aged boxwood shrubs remaining from an 

allee that once lined the drive between Blocks XVIII and XVI, looking north from 

the main drive. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
153 

Endnotes

1 Documentation of existing conditions is based on the site history and on fieldwork completed in June 2006, discussions 

with park staff including Facility Manager Jerry Helton and Ranger Betsy Dinger, and on the park’s GIS database.

2 U.S. Census, “State and County Quick Facts,” Dinwiddie County and City of Petersburg, online at http://quickfacts.

census.gov/qfd/states/51/51053.html.

3 Federal Register, “Environmental Impact Statement: Rail Corridor—Petersburg, Virginia (Collier Yard) to Raleigh, North 

Carolina (Boylan Wye),” 22 May 2003, volume 68, number 99, online at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2003/

May/Day-22/i12812.htm.

4 Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, “The Natural Communities of Virginia, Classification of 

Ecological Community Groups, Second Approximation (Version 2.1),” http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/dnh/ncoverview.htm; 

U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service in cooperation with Virginia Polytechnic Institute 

and State University, Soil Survey of Dinwiddie Area, Virginia (n.p.: USDA, August 1996), 4.

5 U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service in cooperation with Virginia Polytechnic 

Institute and State University, Soil Survey of Dinwiddie Area, Virginia (Washington, D. C.: U.S.D.A., August 1996), map 18 

and pages 34-35, 41, 105.

6 Soil Survey, 99; U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zone Map at http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html.

7 Soil Survey, 90.

8 William W. Redmond, NPS Regional Solicitor, Philadelphia, to Associate Regional Director, Operations, Mid-Atlantic 

Region, 9 March 1976, Poplar Grove administrative records, Hickory Hill headquarters, Petersburg National Battlefield; 

Deed, J. Wesley Friend, Commissioner, to the United States of America, 30 April 1877, Deed Book XIV, 429 Dinwiddie 

County Records, copy in Herbert Olsen, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery History” (Unpublished NPS report, 31 May 

1954), 94.

9 Recent geophysical and archeological testing by the park (2008) identified that in some places existing grave markers 

do not align with the head of the graves. Markers were found in positions between two graves, several feet above the head 

of the grave shaft, off-center from the grave shaft, or even on top of the grave shaft. A few graves are located within drives. 

Petersburg National Battlefield, “Park Review of Draft Cultural Landscape Treatment Plan,” 30 July 2008, 4-5.

10 The earliest government flat marker is for a 1939 burial at grave 1745; those for unknown graves do not contain a date of 

death.

11 Tally based on digital photographic inventory of existing headstones (excluding blocks), 2005, Petersburg National 

Battlefield; on sixty interments made between 1896 and 1957; and on 2,200 headstones and 3,355 blocks originally installed 

in 1877. The number of grave markers does not correspond with the total number of interments, since numerous graves 

have multiple remains.

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

154
160

160

170

170

170

170

170

wio wio

c

wio

c

ch

h

h

yb

yb

x

D

C B

A

F

E

Remnant

allee trees

170 Vaughan Road

NPS cemetery sign

Successional trees

matchline

Northwest field

Odom 

cemetery 

Visitor parking

lot 

Harrison property

Driveway to

Blaha & Peterson

houses

Odom tract

Private mailboxes

Approach Road 

(Federal right-of-way)

National Park Foundation

Blaha

R. Taylor

Southwest field

Cemetery Setting and Approach

Specimen Tree-Shrub Key 

bx Boxwood

c Cedar (Eastern red-cedar)

ch Cherry

cm Crape myrtle 

h Holly

lp Loblolly pine

ma Magnolia (southern)

ph Pignut hickory

ma

ma

lp

tt

c

lp

h

rm

m

c

wc

sg

rm

h

c

cm (4)

sm

sg

c

c

c

c

c

h

c

c

rm

c

c

c c

c c

c

c

bx

h

cm

c

c

h

ph

c

c

c

wio

ro

wio

bx

bx

h cm

rm h

bx bx ma bx

c

c

c

c

c

s c

c

rm

lp

lp

c

c

c c c c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

ro Red oak

rm Red maple

s Spruce (Colorado blue)

sg Sweet-gum

sm Sugar maple

tt Tulip-tree (yellow poplar)

wio Willow oak

wc White-cedar (false cypress)

yb Yellow birch

low area

Inclosure wall

Iron flagstaff

Flat markers (converted

headstones and blocks)

See INSET

INSET

matchline

Entrance

gates

Loblolly pine, hardwoods

Mixed deciduous

Lodge

(1871-72) 

Rostrum 

Service Yard

Asphalt pavement

with gravel coat

Mixed loblolly 

pine-hardwoods

Ditch 

Odom tract 

(National Park Foundation)

Down-slope

Public restroom

building

Garage

Main drive

Concrete curb

South hedgerow

Southeast field 

Remains of barbed-wire 

fence along boundary

Driveway to Blaha & Peterson houses

culvert 

x x x

x x

Wood plank fence

Visitor parking lot

Drive markers, typ.

Grave locator-interpretive signs

Vineyard

Blaha property

Blaha

property

Loblolly 

pines

Peterson

house 

30’ 

Blaha

house 

30’ 

Richardson property

Block

XX

Gun 

monument 

Overhead utlity line

Corner boundary marker 

(typ.)

Lodge Grounds

Approach road

Cemetery

Inclosure

Burial Grounds

Cemetery Inclosure

Cemetery

Inclosure

Unpaved walk

floodlight

Concrete pads 

Assembly area

South woods

East woods

North woods

West woods

Service drive

Asphalt pavement

with sand coat

Entrance field

wellhead

water pools here

water pools here

Concrete walk

R. Taylor farm

R. Taylor farm

x x

0’ 150’ 300’

National Park Foundation

R. Taylor

National Park Foundation

National Park Service

Former drive Peterson

property

Peterson

property

Corner boundary marker

(typ.)

 (gravel)

A-a A-b

A-c A-d

A-e

(Block III) A-f

(Block IV)

B-a

B-b

B-c

B-d

B-e

B-f

B-g

B-h

C-b C-a

C-c C-d

C-e

C-f

C-g

C-h

D-a

D-b

D-c

D-d

D-f

(Block XVI)

D-e

(Block XV)

D-g

(Block XVII)

E

(Block XVIII)

F

(Block XIX)

rm

(Block XI) (Block XII)

(Block IX)

(Block II)

(Block I)

(Block XIV) (Block V)

(Block VI)

(Block XIV) (Block VII)

(Block VIII)

(Block IX)

(Block XIV)

(Block II)

(Block VI)

(Block VII)

(Block VIII)

V

2.5

V

2.6

V

2.6

V

2.7

V

2.9

V

2.8

V

2.10

V

2.11

V

2.12

V

2.14

V

2.13

V2.16

2.17 V

V2.20

V

2.19

2.21 V

V

2.22

V

2.23

V

2.24

V

2.25

V

2.26

V

2.27

V

2.28

V 2.15

V

2.37

V

2.38

V

2.39

2.18

V

V

2.40

V

2.41

B-g

Property line

Inclosure (perimeter) wall

Grave markers (1 dash = approx. 1 marker)

Cemetery division-section 

Building

Road 

Walk

Gun monument

Fence

Drive marker

Conifer tree 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

Lawn

Naturalized English ivy

10' contour 

Drainage through inclosure wall

Wetland 

Photograph key, direction of view 

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Existing Conditions

2009

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

SOURCES

1. PETE GIS Data

2. Burial Location Plan, NPS, , c.1954

3. Aerial photograph, spring 2004v

LEGEND

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Drawing 2.1

NOTES

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter, Illustrator CS3, 2009

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Dates in brackets indicate date of initial construction.

3. Division and section designations are shown with current block

 designations in parentheses.

4. Radial drives are designated by letter, A th rough F. 

V

2.2

0’ 25’ 50’ 75’ 100’

Drive

Drive

Walk

157 

Analysis and Evaluation

Analysis and evaluation

While Poplar Grove National Cemetery has undergone many changes over its long 

history, it retains most of the key features that define it as a Civil War-era national 

cemetery. The findings in this chapter support a period of significance for the 

landscape extending over the course of military administration from the founding 

of the cemetery in 1866 through 1933, prior to Poplar Grove’s transfer to the 

National Park Service. The landscape encompassed by this evaluation includes the 

cemetery proper and the surrounding private properties that comprise the setting, 

including the approach road. 

The first section of this chapter evaluates the historic significance of the 

landscape according to the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. It 

begins with summarizing existing National Register documentation, provides 

recommendations for updating the documentation pertaining to the landscape, 

and concludes with an evaluation of historic integrity according to the seven 

aspects defined by the National Register. The second section of the chapter 

evaluates the historic character of Poplar Grove based on National Park Service 

cultural landscape methodology that organizes the landscape into landscape 

characteristics and associated features.1

 Historic and existing conditions of extant 

features are compared to assess historic character and change over time. Each 

feature is evaluated to determine whether it contributes to the historic character of 

the landscape or not. These findings are summarized in table 3.1 at the end of the 

chapter. 

National register Evaluation

Summary of existing national register documentation

Poplar Grove National Cemetery was administratively listed in the National 

Register of Historic Places in 1966 as part of Petersburg National Battlefield. 

While this listing established the significance of the cemetery in the larger context 

of the Civil War and Petersburg Campaign, it did not address the cemetery’s own 

intrinsic significance due to its designation by Congress as a primary memorial to 

the military history of the United States.2

The current National Register listing for the Petersburg National Battlefield 

includes approximately 2,659 acres, four buildings, fifty-four structures, and 

two objects significant under the area of military history for association with the 

Civil War. The currently documented period of significance is 1850-1874, with 

historic functions identified as battle site and cemetery. The 1966 listing was 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

158

made administratively and did not include adequate documentation.3 In 2006, 

National Register documentation for the entire park was advanced to an internal 

eighty percent draft. This draft proposed the extension of the park-wide period of 

significance to 1962, but did not specify a specific period of significance for Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery. The draft identified the cemetery as a contributing 

site with three buildings (lodge, restroom building, and garage), four structures 

(rostrum, inclosure wall, main drive, and flagstaff), and three objects (gun 

monument, radial avenue signs, and grave markers). In addition to significance 

in the area of military history under Criterion A, the draft also identified Poplar 

Grove as significant under Criterion C for its architecture and landscape 

architecture.4

Aside from its listing as part of Petersburg National Battlefield, Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery meets the registration requirements of the National Register 

Multiple Property Listing “Civil War Era National Cemeteries” submitted by 

the Department of Veterans Affairs and approved by the National Register in 

1994.5

 Since that time, fifty-four Civil War-era national cemeteries administered 

by the Department of Veterans Affairs have been listed in the National Register 

according to the requirements of the Multiple Property Documentation. These 

include City Point, Cold Harbor, Culpeper, Fort Harrison, Glendale, Richmond, 

and Seven Pines National Cemeteries, which were developed at the same time as 

Poplar Grove and with many of the same standardized features. Because Poplar 

Grove is administered by the National Park Service, it has not been included as 

part of this Multiple Property Listing.

national register documentation

This section provides recommendations for updating the National Register 

documentation for Poplar Grove National Cemetery based on the findings of this 

Cultural Landscape Report and on the Multiple Property Listing “Civil War Era 

National Cemeteries.” The following statements address the criteria related to the 

landscape, and not significance in the areas of architecture or archeology. National 

Register documentation for Petersburg National Battlefield, currently being 

developed, will comprehensively address all areas of significance for Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery as a unit of the larger park.6

 These statements will require 

elaboration in future National Register documentation.

National Register Criterion A: Military History

Poplar Grove National Cemetery derives its primary significance under National 

Register Criterion A in the area of military history for its intimate association with 

the Civil War and as a component of the National Cemetery System. This area of 
159 

significance is presently documented in the Multiple Property Documentation, 

“Civil War Era National Cemeteries:” 

The Civil War era national cemeteries were created originally to afford 

a decent resting place for those who fell in the defense of the Union. These 

cemeteries began the ongoing effort to honor and memorialize eternally 

the fighting forces who have and continue to defend our nation. Today, 

the entire national cemetery system symbolizes, in its gracious landscapes 

and marble headstones, both the violence of the struggle and the healing 

aftermath. The Civil War era national cemeteries are nationally significant 

under Criterion A, both for their symbolic and physical representation 

of that war, and for representing the origins of the National Cemetery 

System.7

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is associated with the Civil War and the 

Petersburg Campaign in particular through its interment of approximately 

6,188 soldiers who gave their life in the war. The majority of these soldiers were 

reinterred at the cemetery from nearby battlefields and hospital cemeteries in 

the years between 1866 and 1869. The cemetery site, located in the rear zone of 

the Federal Left Flank, was the wartime camp of the 50th New York Volunteer 

Engineers who were responsible for construction of Union fortifications. The 

cemetery was named in honor of the central feature of this camp, Poplar Grove 

Church, which in turn was named for a nearby church damaged in the Battle of 

Poplar Springs Church. Although the church and most all other camp structures 

were removed during the initial development of the cemetery between 1866 and 

1869, the association of the cemetery with the camp remains through its name and 

location. Loblolly pines, although few in number today, were a prominent feature 

in the landscape of the engineers’ camp. 

In addition to its direct association with the Civil War, Poplar Grove derives 

military significance from association with the National Cemetery System, 

and in particular as a component of the system’s initial development in the 

years following the Civil War. Poplar Grove was one of twenty-one national 

cemeteries established in 1866, which together with several established during 

the war formed the basis of the National Cemetery System.8

 Poplar Grove is also 

significant for its continued use as a national cemetery for veterans through 1957, 

and its continued use for reinterment of Civil War remains discovered in the 

battlefields surrounding Petersburg, most recently in 2003.9

 Although post-Civil 

War interments, numbering approximately sixty, constitute less than one percent 

of all burials, these later burials are significant according to the National Register 

Criteria.10 Poplar Grove reflects its association with the National Cemetery System 

through its landscape, with its standardized features, although the conversion of 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

160

the headstones and blocks to flat markers in 1934 detracts from the landscape’s 

historic integrity under Criterion A. 

National Register Criterion C: Landscape Architecture 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is significant under National Register Criterion 

C in the area of landscape architecture for illustrating the initial development 

of the National Cemetery System through the early 1880s and its subsequent 

development through the early 1930s under continued War Department 

administration. This area of significance is documented in the Multiple Property 

Listing, “Civil War-Era National Cemeteries,” which identifies significance derived 

from the role of Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs in the design of 

built features; rostrums as a manifestation of the beginnings of Memorial Day 

observances; and the lodges, headstones, and inclosure walls as characteristic 

features. With regard to the landscape, the Multiple Property Documentation 

states: 

The Civil War era national cemeteries are...nationally significant under 

Criterion C for embodying an important and commonly recognized 

landscape design and for establishing certain landscape features that have 

been retained for over 100 years...The serene national cemeteries offer 

perpetual testimony of the concern of a grateful nation that the lives and 

services of members of the Armed Forces, who served their nation well, 

will be appropriately commemorated.11

Poplar Grove National Cemetery was laid out in a circular plan in 1866, and 

by 1869, the vast majority of the grave sites were filled and marked by wooden 

headboards. A mounded flagstaff, four gun monuments, and a circulation system 

of gravel and brick-gutter lined drives was completed by this time. Under the 

direction of the cemetery superintendent, a number of flowerbeds were also 

established. The cemetery was shaded by loblolly pine and was set back from 

the public road across agricultural fields and accessed by a thousand-foot long 

approach road. Over the course of the next decade into the early 1880s, the War 

Department implemented a program of development and beautification that 

resulted in the addition of a Second Empire-style stone lodge and brick inclosure 

wall designed according to prototypes by Quartermaster General Montgomery 

Meigs; a fifty-six foot tall wooden flagstaff; a series of outbuildings; white marble 

grave markers with headstones for known burials and blocks for unknown 

burials; settees; iron tablets citing regulations and four-line verses from the poem 

“The Bivouac of the Dead;” and a planting program that included hundreds 

of specimen trees and shrubs, mostly placed informally as specimens, but also 

as an allee along the approach road, a sylvan hall of elms, an allee of boxwood, 

a perimeter Osage orange hedge, and a boxwood Maltese cross. Although 
161 

the plantings and building materials reflected local conditions, overall these 

improvements reflected standardization intended to create uniformity among 

units of the National Cemetery System, and to provide a recognizable federal 

presence. In overall effect, the national cemeteries had a military feeling in their 

simplicity, symmetry, and repetition that set them apart from their contemporary 

high-style civilian cemeteries in the picturesque rural cemetery mode. 

While most of the Poplar Grove landscape was developed by c.1881, there had 

already been several substantial changes made to its initial design by this date. 

Between c.1872 and 1874, the drives within the burial grounds were changed from 

gravel to turf, and in 1877, the brick gutters were covered, creating an expansive 

area of lawn. These changes, apparently also instituted system-wide, reflected 

ongoing efforts to reduce maintenance costs.12 Into the 1920s, the landscape 

remained fairly consistent, with the exception of the addition of an iron rostrum 

designed in the Aesthetic Manner, built in 1897 within the cemetery’s assembly 

area near the lodge; elimination of the flagstaff mound with the installation of 

an iron flagstaff in 1913; and the return of the main drive to gravel in c.1900. The 

most notable change to the landscape during this time was the gradual reduction 

in plant materials, apparently in an effort to simplify maintenance, as well as 

from two wind storms in 1915. It was not until the late 1920s, coinciding with 

the establishment of Petersburg National Military Park in 1926, that the War 

Department charted a plan for improvements at Poplar Grove. This plan resulted 

in the addition of the Colonial Revival-style public restroom building and garage 

in 1929, replacement of the flagstaff with a taller eighty-foot iron pole in 1930, 

and in 1931 replacement of the lodge roof, paving of the approach road and 

main drive, and planting of 101 specimen trees. These improvements reflected 

the War Department’s preference for low maintenance and simplicity in the 

national cemeteries. Although these later improvements changed some details in 

the landscape, overall they continued the military feeling to the landscape and the 

overall intent of the initial design and development. 

After the transfer of Poplar Grove to the National Park Service in August 1933, 

the landscape underwent several significant changes to its original design and 

development. Most notable was the dramatic change made by the park service 

in 1934 when it transformed the upright headstones and blocks to flat markers, 

using Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor. This change was intended to 

ease maintenance and to improve the aesthetics of the landscape. This project, 

also implemented at the National Park Service-administered Yorktown National 

Cemetery, was the first major change at Poplar Grove that was inconsistent with 

the development of other units of the National Cemetery System. Aside from this 

change, the National Park Service retained most of the features in the cemetery 

during its initial years of administration, but following World War II, began to 

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make changes that further eroded the cemetery’s historic character. The changes 

resulted largely from a lack of maintenance and loss of small-scale features and 

plantings, including three of the four gun monuments, iron tablets, and settees. 

Notable plantings lost during this time, aside from specimen trees, included the 

boxwood Maltese cross, boxwood allee, arborvitae hedge around the service yard, 

and approach road allee. This allee was lost to natural succession, as was an open 

field on the cemetery’s west side, which had permitted views of the cemetery from 

the approach road. 

Because these changes are not reflective of the historic design and development 

of national cemeteries nor associated with the Civil War, the history of Poplar 

Grove after 1933 under National Park Service administration is not significant 

under National Register Criterion C (the graves dating after 1933 are, however, 

significant). This period, including the limited improvements made under 

MISSION 66, also does not contain any particular significance under Criterion 

C with the early development of Petersburg National Military Park. While 

involvement of the CCC is often considered a basis for significance under Criteria 

A and C, its involvement at Poplar Grove was limited and did not attest to any 

particular craftsmanship or design. 

Overall Period of Significance, 1866-2003

The overall period of significance for Poplar Grove extends from its establishment 

in 1866 through its most recent burial—reinterment of three Civil War remains—

in 2003. Poplar Grove was closed to new burials in 1957, but remains open for 

the reinterment of Civil War remains discovered in the battlefields of Petersburg. 

According to the National Register Criteria, the fifty-year threshold for 

significance does not apply to National Cemeteries: “...Because these cemeteries 

draw their significance from the presence of remains of military personnel who 

have served the country throughout its history, the age of the cemetery is not a 

factor in judging eligibility, although integrity must be present.” 13 The Keeper 

of the National Register has interpreted this statement to mean that the period 

of significance for National Cemeteries extends until the last burial, including 

reinterments.14 The overall period of significance for Poplar Grove (1866-2003) 

applies to its significance under Criterion A. 

The years prior to the establishment of the cemetery in 1866, encompassing 

development of the site as the camp of the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers in 

1865-1865 is not included in the period of significance because the property does 

not retains integrity from that time.
163 

Period of Significance for the Landscape, 1866-1933

In addition to its overall period of significance, Poplar Grove has a more limited 

period of significance under Criterion C in the area of landscape architecture that 

ends in 1933 with the transfer of administration from the War Department to the 

National Park Service. This end date reflects the height of development under the 

War Department following the improvement program executed between 1929 

and 1931 that resulted, among other things, in the addition of major features in 

the landscape, including the garage, public restroom building, and flagstaff. The 

1933 end-date identifies as non-historic those landscape changes made after 1933, 

with the exception of the graves interred after 1933 that are significant within the 

overall period of significance, 1866-2003. 

evaluation of historical integrity

Integrity as defined by the National Register is the ability of a property to convey 

its significance through its physical resources. Within the concept of integrity, the 

National Register recognizes seven aspects: location, design, setting, materials, 

workmanship, feeling, and association.15 The following evaluation is based on the 

period of significance for the landscape extending from 1866 through 1933 under 

Criterion C, within the overall period of significance extending to the last burial 

in 2003. The only features dating from 1933-2003 that are considered significant 

are the graves. Their original grave markers may, however, also be considered 

significant under Criterion A. 

Location

Location is defined by the National Register as the place where the historic 

property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred. Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery retains all land included in its initial development in 

1866-1869, together with small strips of land added along the boundary through 

a survey adjustment made in 1877. It also retains the original governmentmaintained approach road laid out in c.1866 on a right-of-way through private 

property.

Evaluation: Retains integrity of location

Design

Design is defined by the National Register as the combination of elements that 

create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property. Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery retains the original burial plan as laid out in 1866-1869 

comprised of concentric grave rows and circulation around a central flagstaff, 

together with the lodge grounds and service yard laid out by c.1871. Unlike many 

other Civil War-era National Cemeteries, Poplar Grove retains its burial plan and 

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its historic circulation patterns except for one walk that was filled with graves 

between 1896 and 1918, and a circular turn-around that was eliminated prior to 

1900. Poplar Grove also retains built features that convey the original design and 

historic development of the cemetery through 1933, including the Meigs-type 

lodge (1871-1872), inclosure wall and entrance gates (1876), rostrum (1897), 

garage (1929) and public restroom building (1929). The historic design of Poplar 

Grove has been diminished through the loss of trees and shrubs, settees, tablets, 

and gun monuments; the lowering of the flagstaff; and the conversion of the 

headstones and blocks to flat markers. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of design

Setting

Setting is the physical environment of a property, and in particular the general 

character of a place. While the cemetery retains its overall setting defined by 

unifying lawn, brick inclosure wall, and cluster of buildings at the entrance, the 

alteration of the grave markers and loss of plantings has changed the cemetery’s 

historic character. In terms of the larger setting defined by property outside of 

the cemetery inclosure wall, the wooded surroundings remain on the north, east, 

and south sides, although they have been altered through development of two 

suburban houses and a driveway close to the cemetery inclosure wall. On the west 

and southwest sides and along the approach road, the growth of woods on former 

farm fields since c.1970 has altered the historically open setting that permitted 

views of the cemetery from the approach road. Despite this, agricultural fields still 

flank much of the approach road. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of setting

Materials

Materials are the physical elements that in a particular pattern or configuration 

gave form to the property. In terms of built materials, Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery retains stone, brick, stucco, marble, iron, and asphalt on the buildings, 

walls, grave markers, monument, and drives. Loss of historic built materials 

has resulted from removal of benches, iron tablets, and three of the four gun 

monuments. There have been no modern or artificial materials used to either 

cover or replace historic materials. The general palette of plant materials, 

including the lawn, specimen trees, and shrubs, remains generally consistent with 

those used during the historic period, although in reduced quantity. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of materials
165 

Workmanship

Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts and methods of construction 

used during the historic period. Poplar Grove National Cemetery retains 

workmanship characteristic of its initial development during the latter nineteenth 

century in the stone and woodwork of the lodge, in the masonry of the inclosure 

wall, the metalwork of the gun monument, and in the headstones. There is also 

early twentieth-century workmanship evident in construction of the garage and 

stable, and in the later headstones. The workmanship of the headstones and 

blocks has been diminished due to deterioration of the marble. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of workmanship

Feeling

Feeling is a property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular 

period of time resulting from the presence of physical features that, taken together, 

convey the property’s historic character. Poplar Grove National Cemetery has 

lost much of the solemn dignity that characterized it historically and related it to 

its companion Civil War-era cemeteries in the National Cemetery System. This 

loss of feeling is due to alteration of the headstones and blocks, loss of specimen 

trees and shrubs, removal of the interpretive tablets and three of the four gun 

monuments, lowering of the flagstaff, and loss of the approach road allee. Overall, 

the cemetery has a barren feeling that does not reflect the country’s intent for 

memorializing its fallen soldiers. 

Evaluation: Does not retain integrity of feeling

Association

Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a 

historic property. Poplar Grove National Cemetery remains intimately associated 

with the Civil War, with a total of ninety-nine percent of its burials from that 

war; approximately sixty burials are from veterans of subsequent wars. While 

the cemetery’s transfer to the National Park Service in 1933 removed its historic 

association with the National Cemetery System administered by agencies of the 

U.S. military, the cemetery landscape retains many of its physical resources that 

illustrate its historic association with the system. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of association

Summary Evaluation of Integrity

Poplar Grove National Cemetery retains integrity of location, design, setting, 

materials, workmanship, and association, but lacks integrity of feeling. As a whole, 

the cemetery landscape conveys its significance for association with the Civil 

War and as a component of the National Cemetery System as initially developed 

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during the post-Civil War period through the early twentieth century under War 

Department administration. While the diminished aspects of integrity detract 

from the historic details of the property, Poplar Grove National Cemetery retains 

its overall historic physical form. The individual graves interred after 1933 also 

remain intact during the overall historic period associated with the National 

Cemetery System that extends until the last new burial was interred in 2003.

Cultural landscape evaluation

This section evaluates the historic character of Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

landscape and its setting by contrasting historic conditions (1866-1933) with 

existing conditions. The evaluation is organized by a brief narrative of the 

landscape characteristic followed by an evaluation of extant associated features. 

Character-defining features that have been lost since the end of the historic period 

are described in the characteristic narrative. Features are evaluated as contributing 

or non-contributing to the historic character of the cemetery, or unevaluated 

if there is insufficient information. If the feature is on adjoining private land, 

ownership is indicated next to the feature name. Existing features, features added 

since the end of the historic period, and features lost since the end of the historic 

period are shown on drawing 3.1 (Analysis and Evaluation Plan). Illustrations are 

limited to two sets of comparative photographs. Feature photographs, if available, 

are in the site history and existing conditions chapter. 

Natural systems and features

This characteristic is comprised of the natural aspects that shape the landscape. 

Included within this characteristic is natural vegetation (woods), but not managed 

vegetation (see Vegetation characteristic); natural landforms, but not built 

topography (see Topography characteristic). The cemetery was developed on this 

site in part due to its natural features, including relatively level surface and deep, 

soft soils. A broad depression extends from the northwest corner of the cemetery, 

with a change in elevation of approximately fifteen feet from the central flagstaff. 

The low point of this depression along the north inclosure wall has remained a 

wet area since the cemetery was established. Throughout much of the historic 

period, the cemetery landscape was enclosed on three sides by woods dominated 

by loblolly pine. Today, these woods remain, although much of the loblolly pine 

has been succeeded by hardwoods, and portions of the woods have been removed 

for suburban development. Natural succession has led to a greater amount of 

wooded land in the cemetery’s western setting and along the approach road. 
167 

Triangular Woodlot (R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The triangular woodlot is a young stand of mostly deciduous woods that have 

grown up since 1970 on what had historically been an open field (part of the 

southwest field) (figs. 3.1, 3.2). It is on private land and extends into the NPS rightof-way along the approach road. The woodlot detracts from the open setting of 

the approach road, and encroaches on the site of the approach road allee. 

West Woods (National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The west woods are approximately three acres of young, mixed loblolly pine and 

deciduous woods that have grown up since 1970 on what had historically been 

an open field (part of the northwest field) (see figs. 3.1, 3.2). The west woods are 

bordered by the cemetery’s inclosure wall on the east, visitor parking lot on the 

south, and a private driveway to the west and north. These woods detract from 

the historic character of the cemetery by enclosing what had been an open setting, 

and by obscuring the approach road view of the cemetery. 

North Woods (Blaha Property and NPS)

Evaluation: Contributing 

At the time of the cemetery’s establishment in 1866, the area north of the 

cemetery on the Flower farm consisted of scattered woods of loblolly pine, which 

through natural succession soon grew into continuous woods. Through the end of 

the historic period, the woods were dominated by loblolly pine, with aspen in the 

wet low area off the northwest corner of the cemetery (see fig. 3.1). Construction 

of the driveway to the Blaha and Peterson houses in c.1972 approximately fifteen 

feet north of the cemetery inclosure wall reduced the woods to a thin band (see 

fig. 3.2). A blow-down in 1994 took down part of this remaining band. Several 

large loblolly pines in the eastern half bordering the inclosure wall are either 

dead or declining. The thinness and poor condition of the woods, which allows 

views to the adjoining non-historic driveway and fields, detract from the historic 

character of the landscape. 

East Woods (Blaha and Peterson Properties)

Evaluation: Contributing 

At the time of the cemetery’s establishment in 1866, the area east of the cemetery 

on the Flower farm consisted of loblolly pine woods. Over time, these woods 

were cleared and grew back. In c.1972, portions of the woods were cleared for 

construction of the Blaha and Peterson houses and driveway, opening views from 

the cemetery (see fig. 3.2). Loblolly pines today characterize the remnant woods in 

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Figure 3.1: Historic 

natural systems and 

spatial organization 

characteristics in the 

setting of Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery, 

shown on a c.1969 aerial 

photograph taken prior 

to suburban development 

in the early 1970s. These 

conditions approximate 

those of the historic 

period, 1866-1931. (Detail 

of fig. 1.76, Petersburg 

National Battlefield, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 3.2: Existing 

natural systems and 

spatial organization 

characteristics in the 

setting of Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery, 

shown on a 1994 aerial 

photograph. These 

conditions approximate 

existing conditions. 

(Detail, USGS aerial 

photograph, 1994, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.) 
169 

the south half, and the north half of the woods are mixed hardwoods. While these 

woods still frame the east side of the cemetery in large part, the openings to the 

private drive and two houses detract from the historic character of the landscape. 

South Woods (Richardson Property)

Evaluation: Contributing

At the time of the cemetery’s establishment in 1866, the area south of the burial 

grounds was an open field on the Farley farm. By the end of the historic period, 

the field had grown into woods of loblolly pine. Since the end of the historic 

period, these woods have become a mixed stand of hardwoods. While no longer 

dominated by loblolly pine, the woods remain and have not been developed 

within view of the cemetery (see figs. 3.1, 3.2). 

North Hedgerow (R. Taylor Farm, Harrison Property)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The hedgerow along the north side of the northwest field (R. Taylor Farm) is 

natural vegetation that grew up after the c.1970 along a property boundary. The 

hedgerow does not detract from the historic character of the landscape, except 

at its western end where it extends into the area historically occupied by the 

approach road allee. 

Entrance Field Hedgerow (National Park Foundation, R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Non-contributing 

The hedgerow that extends along the west side of the Odom Cemetery and 

divides the southwest field from the entrance field is volunteer vegetation that 

grew up after c.1970, probably along a fence line. The north end of the hedgerow 

detracts from the historic character of the landscape because it extends into space 

historically occupied by the approach road allee. 

South Hedgerow (R. Taylor Farm and NPS)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The hedgerow along the south cemetery boundary south of the lodge grounds 

is volunteer vegetation that grew up after c.1970 along a fence line and around 

Eastern red-cedars planted in 1937. The hedgerow detracts from the historic 

character of the landscape because it obstructs the open space and views to the 

southeast field.

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spatial organization

This characteristic is defined by the arrangement of elements creating the ground, 

vertical, and overhead planes that define and create spaces. During the historic 

period, Poplar Grove National Cemetery was a distinct space defined by its 

inclosure wall and enclosing woods on the north, east, and south sides, with fields 

to the west extending to Vaughan Road. The approach road crossed these fields 

in a corridor defined by an allee of trees. Within the cemetery, the landscape 

was defined by the burial grounds as the major space, and the lodge grounds 

and service yard as smaller spaces flanking the main entrance. Since the historic 

period, the spatial organization has been altered through natural succession, 

alteration of the grave markers, and loss of plant materials. Despite these changes, 

the landscape retains the overall organization that has defined it since its initial 

development between 1866 and 1881. 

Cemetery Approach (R. Taylor Farm and National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Contributing

The cemetery approach is the corridor defined by the approach road and the 

adjoining trees. Initially, the approach road crossed the fields of the Flower 

farm without any enclosure. In 1879, the War Department planted an allee of 

deciduous trees to either side of the road. In 1911, a barbed-wire fence was built 

along the outer edge of the allee to protect the trees from livestock. The approach 

was defined by the allee through the historic period, but after c.1970, maintenance 

of the allee was curtailed and it transitioned to a volunteer border dominated by 

red-cedar. Natural succession on adjoining fields (west woods, triangular wood 

lot) after c.1970 and construction of the visitor parking lot in c.1995 also changed 

the open spaces that historically flanked the approach. Today, although a large part 

of the cemetery approach remains a distinct spatial corridor defined by trees with 

the northwest and southwest fields to either side, the loss of the allee and natural 

succession has altered the historic well-defined and symmetrical character of the 

corridor.

The cemetery approach extends for 700 feet from Vaughan Road through private 

land in a NPS-owned right of way (approximately thirty feet wide), acquired 

in 1877. The western 325 feet of the corridor was acquired by National Park 

Foundation in 1991 as part of the Odom tract. While the width of the right-of-way 

has never been defined in property records, NPS has determined that historic 

usage is a sound basis on which to determine the right-of-way. This usage includes 

the eleven-foot road bed and approximately ten to twenty feet to either side, 

extending to the outer edge of the historic allee canopy. 
171 

Northwest Field (R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Contributing 

The northwest field, located north of the approach road, predates the 

establishment of the cemetery. It has been farmed continuously since then, 

although its eastern end fell out of agricultural use by c.1970 and subsequently 

grew into woods (west woods) through natural succession (see figs. 3.1, 3.2). A 

driveway to the Peterson and Blaha houses was built through the field in c.1972. 

The northwest field contributes to the historic character of the landscape as part 

of the open space that historically flanked the approach road and formed the rural 

setting of the cemetery. 

Southwest Field (R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Contributing

The southwest field, located south of the approach road, predates the 

establishment of the cemetery. It has been farmed continuously since then, 

although a small area at its western side at the intersection of Vaughan Road and 

the cemetery approach road fell out of agricultural use by c.1970 and subsequently 

grew into woods (triangular woodlot) through natural succession (see figs. 3.1, 

3.2). The southwest field contributes to the historic character of the landscape as 

part of the open space that historically flanked the approach road and formed the 

rural setting of the cemetery. 

Entrance Field (National Park Foundation, R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Contributing

The entrance field is the open area south of the cemetery entrance gate between 

the southwest field and cemetery inclosure wall. Since the end of the historic 

period, hedgerows along its west and south sides have separated the field spatially 

from the adjoining southwest and southeast fields (see figs. 3.1, 3.2). The portion 

of the entrance field on National Park Foundation property is maintained as 

mown field; the portion to the south extending onto the R. Taylor farm contains 

a corral enclosed by a split-rail fence. The barn associated with the farm is visible 

across this field. The entrance field contributes to the historic character of the 

landscape as part of the open space that historically flanked the approach road 

and formed the rural setting of the cemetery.

Southeast Field (R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Contributing

The southeast field is located south of the cemetery lodge grounds and east of 

the entrance field. It was used during the historic period as a cow pasture and 

was open to views from the cemetery. Since c.1970, a hedgerow has grown up 

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along the cemetery inclosure wall and today visually separates the southeast field 

from the cemetery (see figs. 3.1, 3.2). Although no longer clearly visible, the south 

pasture contributes to the historic open setting of the cemetery. 

Odom Cemetery (National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The Odom cemetery is a tiny family cemetery with two grave plots. It is located 

on the south side of the approach road within the entrance field and consists of 

0.05 acres enclosed by a cyclone fence and bordering a red-cedar hedgerow to the 

west. It was established in 1971 by the Odom family, owners of the surrounding 

farm. The first burials in the Odom cemetery occurred in 1971, and in 1972 the 

boundaries of the tract were platted. In 1991, the National Park Foundation 

acquired the Odom cemetery as part of the 3.7-acre Odom tract, based on the 

understanding the cemetery would be maintained to National Park Service 

standards and that family members would be allowed access to it. Given its 

recent origin distinct from the national cemetery, the Odom cemetery does not 

contribute to the historic character of the landscape. Its cyclone fence detracts 

from the spatial character of the cemetery approach. 

Cemetery Inclosure Space

Evaluation: Contributing

The cemetery inclosure is the space on the perimeter of the cemetery, from the 

inclosure (perimeter) wall to the outside property boundary. During the historic 

period, the inclosure space was framed by woods on the north, east, and south 

sides, and was open to fields on the west side and a portion of the south side. The 

inclosure was initially defined by a wood paling fence that was replaced in 1876 

by the existing brick inclosure wall. A hedge of Osage orange lined the interior 

of the wall until it was removed in c.1888. By the end of the historic period, a 

wagon road was maintained along the outside of the wall for access. Since the 

end of the historic period, the spatial character of the inclosure has changed 

from open to closed on the west and south sides, and on the north and east sides 

has become less enclosed through openings created in the woods for suburban 

development. The cemetery inclosure space remains a character-defining feature 

of the cemetery landscape, although the change in the adjoining woods and fields 

detracts from its historic character. 

Service Yard

Evaluation: Contributing

The service yard, developed beginning in c .1871 as the cemetery’s maintenance 

area, is defined by the inclosure wall, main drive, and burial grounds. It occupies 
173 

the portion of the one-acre addition (1868) north of the main drive. During 

the historic period, the service yard was initially enclosed on the south and east 

sides by a boxwood hedge and lattice fence, which were replaced in c.1888 by an 

arborvitae hedge. Inside of the hedge, the yard contained several service buildings 

and a privy at the northeast corner that were replaced in 1929 by the present 

garage. There was also a well house in the center of the yard, which was removed 

in c.1939 and replaced by a new well with an inconspicuous wellhead in c.1974. 

In c.1974, the arborvitae hedge was removed and the limits of the service drive

were expanded. Although the historic enclosure provided by the arborvitae hedge 

has been lost and the drive is much larger than it was historically, the service yard 

remains a character-defining space in the cemetery landscape.

Lodge Grounds

Evaluation: Contributing

The lodge grounds, developed beginning in c.1871 as the cemetery’s assembly 

area, is defined by the inclosure wall, main drive, and burial grounds (Division 

F/Block XIX). It occupies the portion of the one-acre addition (1868) south of 

the main drive. During the historic period, the lodge grounds included the lodge 

completed in 1872, the public restroom building that replaced several earlier 

outbuildings in 1929 on the west, and the rostrum, completed in 1897, on the east. 

Between these buildings was the cemetery’s assembly area, which was defined by 

a circular turn-around that branched off the main drive. This feature existed until 

c.1900. Internally, the space by the early twentieth century was framed by fruit 

trees and a walk along the south inclosure wall and by boxwood shrubs ringing 

the turn-around, as well as by scattered specimen trees. Today, the lodge grounds 

remain defined by the three major buildings and the inclosure wall, but the loss of 

the plant materials and circulation features has altered the internal organization of 

the space. Despite these changes, the lodge grounds remain a character-defining 

space in the cemetery landscape. 

Burial Grounds

Evaluation: Contributing

The burial grounds, laid out between 1866 and 1869, comprise the primary 

space of the cemetery, defined externally by the inclosure, service yard, and 

lodge grounds, and internally by the radial burial plan and plantings. During the 

historic period, the internal spatial organization was characterized by scattered 

specimen trees that did not define any particular space and an allee of boxwoods 

between Divisions E (Block XVIII) and D (Block XVI). The sylvan hall, a standard 

national cemetery planting consisting of a cross-shaped space defined by rows 

of American elms with boxwood shrubs, was removed by c.1890, although the 

boxwoods were retained. Since the end of the historic period, the interior spatial 

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organization of the burial grounds has been altered by the transformation of the 

headstones and blocks to flat markers, and the loss of the boxwood allee and 

specimen trees, which have created an expansiveness to the landscape that did 

not exist historically. In contrast, trees added around the central circle after 1933 

have created greater enclosure and block views of the cemetery flagstaff from 

the graves. The external organization remains largely intact with the exception 

of changes to the adjoining inclosure woods. Despite these changes, the burial 

grounds remain a character-defining space in the cemetery landscape. 

land use

This characteristic describes uses that affect the physical form of the landscape. 

During the historic period, Poplar Grove National Cemetery was characterized 

by funerary and commemorative land uses. While the vast majority of the burials 

were made as reinterments between 1866 and 1869, new burials continued 

through the historic period, but were few in number. New burials ceased after 

1957, except for reinterment of Civil War remains, the last of which occurred 

in 2003. The cemetery remains open for the reinterment of Civil War remains 

discovered in the battlefields surrounding Petersburg. Unlike some national 

cemeteries, Poplar Grove never received a major commemorative monument, 

but the gun monument installed in 1869 and the rostrum completed in 1897 

reflect commemorative uses. In addition to visitation to individual gravesites, the 

cemetery hosted public ceremonies, in particular on Memorial Day, although 

visitation with few exceptions tended to be sparse. With the establishment of 

Petersburg National Military Park in 1926, the cemetery began to be used formally 

for interpretive purposes. Historic agricultural land uses in the cemetery’s 

setting remain in the fields to the west, but suburban residential uses have been 

introduced in the historically wooded areas to the north and east. 

Circulation

This characteristic describes systems of movement through the landscape. 

As initially developed, circulation was a conspicuous characteristic of Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery, but as the landscape was developed through the late 

nineteenth century, the circulation system within the burial grounds became less 

visible with the change from gravel to turf surfaces and removal of brick gutters. 

The alteration of the grave markers in 1934 after the historic period further 

eroded the definition of the drives and walks. With the exception of the service 

drive, circulation in the cemetery retains the general character present at the end 

of the historic period following improvements made by the War Department 

between 1929 and 1931. 
175 

Two circulation features lost during the historic period included the circular turnaround and adjoining walk in the lodge grounds. The circular turn-around drive 

was built in c.1871 and featured a central island ringed by boxwoods and annual 

plantings or a low hedge, with a horsechestnut tree in the center. The walks, also 

built in c.1871 and defined by low hedges or planted borders, extended from the 

main drive on the west side of the lodge along the inclosure wall and to the turnaround and Division F. It is not known if these features were initially surfaced in 

gravel or turf; after c.1874, they were probably turf to match the cemetery drives 

and walks. The turn-around fell out of use by c.1900 and the walks were removed 

with construction of the public restroom building in 1929 and expansion of the 

septic system in 1931. 

Approach Road (National Park Foundation, R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Contributing

The approach road is the 1,025-foot long entrance drive to Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery from the public highway, Vaughan Road. It dates to the establishment 

of the cemetery in 1866 and may have been constructed prior to the cemetery 

as a farm road or as part of the war-time camp of the 50th New York Volunteer 

Engineers. In 1877, the federal government secured a right-of-way of unspecified 

width through the Flower farm. The War Department maintained the road with a 

grave surface, approximately eleven feet wide, with grass shoulders and bordered 

by an allee of deciduous trees planted in 1879. At approximately 200 feet from 

Vaughan Road, a farm road crossing was built in c.1911 at the time that the 

right-of-way was enclosed by a barbed-wire fence. In 1931, the War Department 

resurfaced the approach road in asphalt along with the main drive. After the 

historic period, a private driveway was built off the north side of the approach 

road, and in 1991, the National Park Foundation acquired the eastern 325 feet 

of the approach road as part of the 3.7-acre Odom tract. In c.1995, the section 

near the entrance gates was widened, probably at the time the visitor parking lot 

was built in c.1995, and in 2003 the approach road was repaved in asphalt with a 

sand top coat. Overall, the approach road retains the alignment and surface that 

characterized it at the end of the historic period. 

Driveway to Blaha and Peterson Houses (Blaha and Peterson Properties)

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

In c.1972, a gravel driveway approximately ten feet wide was constructed to access 

two suburban houses east of the cemetery. This driveway extended northeast from 

the approach road through the southwest field and turned east where it was built 

roughly fifteen feet north of the cemetery inclosure wall. The driveway turned 

south following the east side of the inclosure wall to the two houses. The drive was 

constructed on fill in the low area off the northwest corner of the cemetery, where 

Analysis and Evaluation
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176

a culvert carries the roadbed over the cemetery drainage ditch. The driveway is 

visible from the approach road and through the thin woods in the inclosure. Due 

to its recent origin and location, the driveway detracts from the historic rural 

character of the landscape. 

Visitor Parking Lot (National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The visitor parking lot is located along the north side of the approach road near 

the entrance gates, and was built by the park in c.1995 following National Park 

Foundation acquisition of the 3.7-acre Odom tract. The parking lot detracts from 

the historic character of the landscape because it disrupts the symmetry and rural 

setting of the cemetery approach. 

Main Drive

Evaluation: Contributing

The main drive, a continuation of the approach road within the cemetery, extends 

from the entrance gates and loops around the flagstaff. It is one of eight radiating 

drives, and may have originated in part as an entrance into the Civil War camp 

of the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers. It was part of the initial development 

of the cemetery in 1866, and was surfaced in gravel and lined by brick gutters. In 

c.1871, a circular turn-around was built off the drive within the lodge grounds. 

In c.1872-1874, the surface of the main drive was changed to turf along with all 

other drives in the burial grounds, and in 1877 all of the brick gutters were filled 

and covered in turf. In c.1900, the main drive was set apart as a distinct drive in 

the burial grounds when its surface was changed back to gravel (the gutters were 

not uncovered). In 1931, the main drive was paved in asphalt with a three-quarter 

inch grave top coat. As part of the paving project, the alignment of the central 

circle was changed into a teardrop shape to provide an easier turning radius for 

vehicles. This change required the addition of a concrete curb on the south side to 

avoid grading over the adjoining headstones. This change in alignment, although 

made during the historic period, detracts from the circular symmetry of the 

cemetery. Since the end of the historic period, the drive has been widened in front 

of the lodge and service yard, and in 2003 was repaved with a pea gravel top coat. 

Overall, the main drive retains its character from the end of the historic period. 

Service Drive

Evaluation: Contributing

The service drive was initially laid out in c.1873 as a short access from the main 

drive into the service yard, passing through a lattice fence and boxwood hedge 

(later arborvitae hedge) that screened the service yard. With the construction of 
177 

the garage in 1929, the drive was extended to the width of the building, wrapping 

around the well house that stood in front. After the historic period, the drive 

was widened from the main drive to the garage for the width of the building, 

probably when the arborvitae hedge was removed in c.1974. In 2003, the drive was 

paved in asphalt with a pea gravel top coat. An aged magnolia marks the original 

southwestern corner of the original narrow drive entrance; a companion magnolia 

historically marked the other corner. The expansion of the drive and resulting loss 

of the narrow entrance detract from the historic character of the service drive. 

Burial Grounds Drives

Evaluation: Contributing

The drives within the burial grounds (today generally known as walks, and 

historically also known as avenues) are the primary, wider circulation routes 

between burial sections, averaging twelve to fifteen feet wide. The drives were 

constructed between 1866 and 1869 with gravel surfaces and brick gutters. 

Between c.1872 and 1874, the drives were changed to turf due primarily to 

maintenance concerns (difficulty in keeping grass from growing in the gravel). The 

turf was a Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) rolled to create an even surface. In 

1877, the brick gutters were filled and covered with turf as another maintenance 

economy. With these changes, the drives became subtle features in the landscape, 

defined only by the voids between grave sections. The main drive remained 

visually consistent with the other drives until c.1900, when it was changed to a 

gravel surface; the other drives were kept in turf. After the historic period, the 

alteration of the grave markers in 1934 further eroded the definition of the drives, 

and they became largely indiscernible (figs. 3.3, 3.4). In c.1957, the radial drives, 

except for the main drive and the drive due north of the flagstaff that had been 

filled with graves between 1896 and 1918, were identified by letters A through F 

(the drives were historically not named). All of the drives remain as circulation 

corridors, except for the drive north of the flagstaff that was filled with graves. 

Aside from the change in setting resulting from the alteration of the grave markers, 

the drives remain largely intact, reflecting conditions in the latter historic period. 

Burial Grounds Walks

Evaluation: Contributing

The walks within the burial grounds are the secondary, narrower circulation 

routes between the grave rows, averaging seven feet wide. They were created 

between 1866 and 1869, and were surfaced in turf as part of the cemetery lawn. 

Trees were planted in many of the walks. After the historic period, the alteration 

of the grave markers eroded the definition of the walks (see figs. 3.3, 3.4). Despite 

this, they remain largely intact as circulation corridors and with the same surface 

that they have had throughout the historic period. 

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178

Restroom Walks

Evaluation: Contributing

Three-foot wide concrete walks were constructed in c.1929 to access the public 

restroom (utility) building constructed at the same time. The walk was built from 

the east wing of the lodge and back to the restroom building, where it accessed 

both restrooms and the utility room. In c.1970, the walk was closed off from the 

public by a wood plank fence enclosing the rear yard of the lodge. Although in 

part no longer used as the main public access to the restrooms, the concrete walks 

remain intact and are minor details in the historic landscape. 

Figure 3.3: Historic view of 

the burial grounds in 1932, 

taken from near the rostrum 

looking east along the south 

wall showing the upright 

headstones and blocks 

defi ning grass drives and 

walks, and widely spaced 

specimen trees. (Repeat of 

fi g. 1.63, National Archives 

II.) 

Figure 3.4: Existing view of 

the burial grounds looking 

in the same direction as 

fi gure 3.3., illustrating 

changes to the landscape 

from alteration of the grave 

markers in 1934. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.) 
179 

Restroom Path 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

An earthen path was built in 2003 to provide access to the restrooms from the 

main drive. It was built on fill that interfered with the drainage swale from the 

lodge southeast to an opening in the inclosure wall. The path is surfaced in earth 

and turf. Due to its design and recent origin, it detracts from the historic character 

of the landscape. 

Topography

This characteristic is defined as the built, three-dimensional configuration of 

the landscape (natural landforms are addressed under the natural systems and 

features characteristic). In the initial development of the cemetery, the natural 

contours were probably manipulated to provide even, level surfaces adequate 

for burials. Topography was a conspicuous characteristic of the early cemetery 

landscape due to the mounds built over each grave, intended to provide fill as the 

coffin disintegrated. These grave mounds were gradually removed until the last 

were leveled in 1877 with the installation of the marble grave markers. The only 

other topographic features within the landscape were a drainage ditch off the 

northwest corner of the cemetery built in c.1869, and the flagstaff mound that was 

initially built in c.1866 as a six-foot high, forty-foot wide earthen mound. With 

replacement of the original flagstaff in 1874, the mound was reduced to four feet 

high and approximately twenty feet wide. With the replacement of the flagstaff in 

1913, the mound was eliminated. The only remaining topographic feature in the 

landscape is the drainage ditch. 

Drainage Ditch (NPS and Blaha property)

Evaluation: Non-contributing 

In c.1869 during the initial development of the cemetery, a ditch was built to 

drain the topographical low point at the northwestern side of the cemetery. This 

ditch drained north onto the Flower farm. The ditch was probably rebuilt with 

the construction of the inclosure wall in 1876, and most likely several times after 

that. The most recent reconstruction, in c.1957, included a concrete spillway 

that extends beyond the NPS property line. In c.1972, a concrete culvert was 

built over the ditch to carry the driveway to the Blaha and Peterson houses. This 

construction may have led to the present failure of the ditch to adequately drain 

the burial grounds. Although functionally important, the drainage ditch not does 

contribute to the historic character of the landscape. 

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180

vegetation

This characteristic describes the managed trees, shrubs, vines, groundcovers, and 

herbaceous materials in the landscape (but not the natural unmanaged vegetation, 

which is part of the natural systems and features characteristic). The vegetation 

of Poplar Grove National Cemetery was characterized historically by an allee 

along the approach road, and lawn and specimen trees within the cemetery. There 

was historically a preponderance of evergreens (loblolly pine and cedars), which 

traditionally have a funerary association with eternal life. Shrubs, hedges, vines, 

and flowerbeds were generally secondary features. The amount of vegetation 

was at its greatest from the initial beautification of the cemetery during the 1870s 

through the 1890s. After this time, the War Department reduced the amount of 

vegetation, especially flowerbeds and shrubs, in response to natural decline and 

disaster, lack of replacement, and efforts to decrease maintenance. The last major 

planting during the historic period occurred in 1931. After the historic period, the 

National Park Service made additional plantings in the burial grounds, but did not 

alter the overall character of evenly spaced trees and lawn aside from the planting 

of Eastern red-cedars clustered along the inclosure wall. Although the amount 

of vegetation has declined and several new species have been introduced since 

the end of the historic period, the overall character of the vegetation within the 

cemetery created by collection of specimen trees informally distributed across the 

landscape remains largely intact. The approach road allee does not remain intact. 

(See also chronological list of plantings in Appendix G.)

Character-defining vegetation features that have been lost since the end of the 

historic period, aside from individual specimens, include the boxwood allee 

between Divisions E (Block XVIII) and D (Block XVI) (c.1871-c.1974), the 

arborvitae hedge around the service yard (c.1888-c.1974), fruit trees in the lodge 

grounds (c.1871-c.1970), a boxwood hedge in the shape of a Maltese cross in front 

of the lodge (c.1871-c.1985), and English ivy on the inclosure wall (c.1888-c.1957). 

There was also a grape arbor extending back from the southeast corner of the 

lodge (c.1872-c.1934).

Approach Road Trees (National Park Foundation, R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The approach road trees line either side of the approach road in the federal rightof-way through private property. In 1879, the War Department planted maples 

and tulip-trees at twenty-five foot intervals (approximately eighty trees total), 

symmetrically to either side of the approach road. These trees created a formal 

allee that provided a military-like rhythm to the approach. Replacement plantings 

were made in 1882 with a mix of ash, elm, linden, maple, and white poplar. In 

1931, replacement plantings of elm, maple, and linden were recommended. After 
181 

the end of the historic period, the allee was not maintained, and mowing around 

the trees probably ceased leading to growth of volunteer trees, primarily Eastern 

red-cedar. By 1969, the allee had large gaps, and today the fourteen original trees 

are scattered among volunteer specimens, groves, and adjoining woods (see 

figs. 3.1, 3.2). The existing trees lack the symmetry and formality of the historic 

allee, and also block views to the cemetery and adjoining fields. Due to lack of 

integrity, the approach road trees do not contribute to the historic character of the 

landscape, although during the historic period the formal allee was a significant 

feature. 

Odom Cemetery Trees and Shrubs (National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The Odom Cemetery, established in 1971, contains three deciduous shrubs and 

two young deciduous trees. Given their recent origin, the vegetation does not 

contribute to the historic character of the landscape. The trees detract from the 

historic character due to their location in what was historically an open field 

bordering the approach road allee. 

Cemetery Specimen Trees

Evaluation: Contributing

In the initial establishment of Poplar Grove, specimen trees included fruit trees 

(purportedly planted by the engineers) and second-growth loblolly pines, which 

were thinned from the woods surrounding the engineers’ camp and retained as 

specimens. Spaces within the grave rows most likely reflect planting around these 

trees. In 1868, there were approximately 180 specimen loblolly pines and that 

same year, the burial corps planted approximately 1,000 red-cedars transplanted 

from nearby woods, most of which died. In 1871, the Quartermaster General 

undertook a major planting program at the national cemeteries that included 

approximately 200 specimens at Poplar Grove. Species included ash (probably 

European mountain ash), purple beech, cedar (probably false cypress/white 

cedar), hornbeam (hop hornbeam), horsechestnut, balsam fir, elm, Kentucky 

coffee-tree, larch, linden, magnolia, box elder, silver maple, sugar maple, oak 

(probably pin, water, and willow), silver poplar, Norway spruce, white spruce, 

and weeping willow. Other trees planted after 1871 included dwarf black spruce, 

mugho pine, red maple, sweet-gum, and tulip-tree. Also in 1871, 101 elms 

were established as two allees in the shape of cross to create a so-called sylvan 

hall, a feature introduced at the time in many national cemeteries. Most of the 

elms in the sylvan hall were removed in c.1890 apparently because their heavy 

surface roots were interfering with the graves and mowing. Many trees were 

lost in two storms during the summer of 1915, which destroyed approximately 

139 specimens. These trees were not replaced until 1931, when the first major 

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planting program since 1871 was undertaken. It specified approximately seventy 

trees within the cemetery walls, including elm, holly, linden, Austrian pine, 

European mountain ash, Norway maple, Norway spruce, and pin oak. By the end 

of the historic period, there were 169 trees in the cemetery, generally evenly and 

informally distributed across the landscape, with elm, loblolly pine, holly, cedars, 

magnolia, and oaks the most numerous species. 

After the end of the historic period, the National Park Service removed 

many specimen trees due to decline and made new plantings. These included 

approximately one hundred Eastern red-cedar trees planted in 1937, primarily 

along the inclosure wall. By 1941, there were 137 deciduous and 156 evergreen 

trees (including eighty deciduous trees in the approach road allee). By 1962, the 

number of evergreen trees within the cemetery had decreased to twenty, and 

the deciduous trees to thirty-seven. The park made some new plantings after 

World War II using red oak, yellow birch, scrub pine, pignut hickory, willow oak, 

sweet-gum, cherry, and Colorado blue spruce. While there are approximately 

eighty specimen trees in the cemetery today, only twenty likely date to the historic 

period. The loss of trees and changes in species, particularly the loss of evergreens 

with their funerary association, detracts form the historic character of the 

landscape. The trees planted after 1934 are generally compatible with the historic 

character, although the hollies along the central circle interfere with views from 

the flagstaff out to the graves due to their heavy canopy and low branching. 

The oldest specimen trees (including those in the approach road allee) are 

identified by circular metal tags imprinted with an inventory number affixed to 

the trunk. These tags most likely date to an inventory system created by the park 

service prior to World War II. This system was discontinued at an unknown time 

after the war, so the younger trees in the cemetery do not have the identification 

tags. 

Cemetery Shrubs

Evaluation: Non-contributing

During the early history of the cemetery, the landscape was characterized by 

many shrubs. The 1871 planting program included 100 boxwoods (planted in an 

allee between Divisions D and E, along the drives, as edging for the Maltese cross 

in front of the lodge, and as a hedge around the service area) and 4,042 Osage 

orange (as a perimeter hedge), and during the 1870s there were unspecified shrubs 

planted on the flagstaff mound that were removed by c.1895. The boxwoods along 

the drives were clipped into mounds. In 1888, the boxwood hedge around the 

service yard was replaced with an arborvitae hedge. Crape myrtles were planted 

prior to 1932. Most of the shrubs remained intact by the end of the historic 

period, except for those around the circular turn-around in the lodge grounds that 
183 

were probably removed for a septic field. After the historic period, the number of 

shrubs declined with the notable loss of the boxwood allee, sheared boxwoods 

along the drives, service yard arborvitae hedge, and Maltese cross hedge. The 

remaining boxwoods were not clipped but allowed to grow naturally. New 

plantings were probably limited to a cluster of crape myrtle east of the flagstaff. 

Today, shrubs that probably date to the historic period are limited to six aged 

boxwoods in the lodge grounds and in the former allee, and a crape myrtle in 

Division D. Post-1933 shrubs include a group of crape myrtle in the drive east of 

the flagstaff. Due to their overgrown size, origin after 1933, and remnants of once 

larger plantings, the existing shrubs as a whole do not contribute to the historic 

character of the landscape. Clipped shrubs were historically a character-defining 

feature of Poplar Grove. 

Cemetery Lawn

Evaluation: Contributing

The cemetery lawn dates back to the initial development of the cemetery in 1866-

1869. It was initially a discontiguous and uneven lawn due to the presence of grave 

mounds. By 1877, the last of the grave mounds was leveled, and together with 

change from gravel to turf on the drives by1874 and removal of the brick gutters 

in 1877, the lawn became an expansive and unifying feature of the landscape. 

Mowing was done by hand mowers, with trimming done by sickle or scythe. In 

1878, the cemetery acquired a horse-drawn lawn mower, and in 1931, a gasoline 

powered mower. The cemetery lawn, primarily Bermuda grass with wild onion, 

sorrel, and other weeds, was often cited as being difficult to maintain due to clayey 

soils. After the historic period, the park maintained the cemetery lawn much as it 

had been during the historic period, although the alteration of the grave markers 

had a marked visual impact on the lawn, creating a single expanse of lawn where 

historically it had been punctuated by the rows of upright grave markers. In 

addition, the lawn has at times been in poor condition. Despite this visual change 

and conditions problems, the lawn remains a character-defining feature of the 

cemetery landscape. 

Inclosure Ivy Groundcover (NPS, National Park Foundation, Blaha and Peterson 

Properties)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

Around the outside of the inclosure wall on portions of the south, east, and north 

sides, there is English ivy that has become naturalized within the inclosure woods. 

This ivy escaped from the ivy planted in 1888 along the inside of the inclosure wall 

in a bed cut into the lawn. The ivy was kept trimmed in a line below the top of the 

wall, and was maintained through the end of the historic period and into the late 

1930s. During the war and post-war years when maintenance was curtailed, the 

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ivy grew over the wall and into the adjoining woods. It was most likely removed 

from the inside of the wall as part of a general cemetery improvement undertaken 

in 1957. Although the existing ivy is an interesting remnant, it most likely did 

not exist historically in its current location and therefore does not contribute to 

the historic character of the landscape. The loss of the ivy on the inclosure wall 

detracts from the historic character of the cemetery. 

Inclosure Red-Cedar Trees

Evaluation: Non-contributing

Along the outside of the south and west sides of the inclosure wall are Eastern 

red-cedar trees planted in 1937. These cedars were planted for visual interest 

and screening along the sides of the cemetery open to adjoining fields. Those 

south of the lodge grounds and west of the burial grounds are today surrounded 

by successional woods, while those to either side of the entrance gates remain 

as specimens. Because they were planted after the historic period, as individual 

trees these cedars do not contribute to the historic character of the landscape. 

However, given their limited extent and relationship to plants used historically, 

they do not detract from the historic character of the landscape.

buildings and structures

This characteristic includes three-dimensional constructs, with buildings defined 

as constructs for shelter such as houses, barns, and garages; and structures as 

constructs that do not provide shelter, such as walls and bridges. Buildings and 

structures at Poplar Grove are clustered at the entrance to the cemetery and frame 

the perimeter. Buildings that were removed during the historic period included 

Poplar Grove Church (1865-1868), the first lodge (1867-c.1879), the brick kitchen 

(1879-1929) and “cave” (c.1900-1929, use not known) to the rear of the lodge; and 

in the service yard, the well house (c.1871-c.1939), brick toolshed-stable (1879-

c.1929), forage shed, (1879-c.1915), service yard privy (c.1905-1929), and frame 

shed (c.1925-c.1929). Notable lost structures include the system of brick gutters 

that lined the drives in the burial grounds (1866-1869), which were covered in 

1877 and may still remain below the surface. While there was substantial change 

during the historic period, buildings and structures remain largely unchanged 

since the end of the historic period in 1933. 

Two buildings—the Blaha and Peterson houses—have been introduced into the 

immediate setting of the cemetery since the historic period. Built in c.1972, both 

are visible from within the cemetery and detract from the historic setting of Poplar 

Grove. 
185 

Inclosure Wall and Entrance Gate

Evaluation: Contributing

The inclosure wall and entrance gate delineate the perimeter of the cemetery and 

were built based on a prototype plan made in 1870 by Quartermaster General 

Montgomery Meigs. Initially begun in 1873 to replace a white-painted wood 

paling fence erected in 1866, the Poplar Grove inclosure wall and entrance gates 

were built in 1876 by John Brennon and Archibald L. Hutton of Washington. The 

wall, measuring 2,700 feet long and four feet tall, was constructed of red brick with 

pilasters capped by Ohio sandstone blocks dividing each of the 132 sections. At 

approximately eight locations, openings in the brick wall were made for drainage, 

originally from the system of brick gutters and wooden sewer boxes that drained 

the cemetery. As first constructed, the wall remained obscured from inside the 

cemetery by a perimeter hedge of Osage orange, which was replaced in c.1888 by 

a planting of English ivy that climbed the wall. The ivy remained until c.1957. The 

entrance gate, built of granite posts with iron gates, was characteristic of larger 

national cemeteries with two pedestrian passages flanking a central vehicular 

way. In c.1935, the park added two metal plaques in the shape of a shield with 

the words “U.S. National Cemetery” to the granite posts. The inclosure wall and 

entrance gates remain intact and are character-defining features of Civil War-era 

national cemeteries. The wall and gates are similar to those at Yorktown, Seven 

Pines, Richmond, Culpeper, and Fort Harrison National Cemeteries, among 

others, all built around the same time according to the Meigs prototype. Removal 

of English ivy along the interior of the wall, probably done to conserve the brick 

masonry, has altered the historic character of the landscape.

Lodge

Evaluation: Contributing

The lodge, located at the cemetery entrance gates, is a small one and one-half 

story house with a Mansard roof that historically functioned as the residence of 

the cemetery superintendent and his family. It replaced a frame lodge built in 1867 

on the north side of the drive, and was designed according to a prototype plan in 

the Second Empire style by Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs. Work on 

the building, initially designed to be brick, began in 1870 on the north side of the 

main drive. This site was abandoned and the following year the project was rebid 

and awarded to Kyran A. Murphy, this time using stone construction and a site 

on the south side of the main drive. The old frame lodge was moved to the rear of 

the lodge for use as a kitchen wing, and was removed with the construction of a 

separate brick kitchen to the rear of the lodge in c.1879. In 1914, a stucco-finished 

one-story kitchen wing was added at the rear of the lodge. The final exterior 

modifications to the Lodge were made at the end of the historic period as part 

of the War Department’s program of improvements that included the building 

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of the garage and public restroom building. In 1931, the floor of the porch was 

replaced in concrete and the lower slope of the slate Mansard roof was replaced 

with standing-seam metal, matching the roofs on the stable and restroom building. 

In c.1903, a standard iron tablet with Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, known as the 

Lincoln Memorial tablet, was affixed to the front of the lodge.16 While the paint 

scheme at the end of the historic period in 1933 is not known, the 1931 National 

Cemetery regulations called for tin roofs to be painted red, trim white, doors 

bronze green, porch ceiling light blue, and borders and letters of the Lincoln 

Memorial tablet, copper-bronze. 

Since the end of the historic period, there have been no substantial changes to 

the exterior of the lodge aside from the addition of aluminum triple-track storm 

windows and painting of the stucco kitchen wing in white. The lodge remains 

a character-defining feature of the landscape that identifies Poplar Grove as a 

Civil War-era National Cemetery. The lodge is similar in style and overall plan 

and details to the lodges at Richmond, Fort Harrison, Cold Harbor, Seven Pines, 

Yorktown, and Culpeper National Cemeteries, among others. 

Garage

Evaluation: Contributing

The garage, historically known as the stable-garage or the outbuilding, is a one 

and one-half story building with a metal gable roof located in the service yard 

along the inclosure wall. The Colonial Revival-style building was constructed in 

1929 by the firm of H. Herfurth Jr., of Washington D. C. according to the design 

of the Quartermaster Supply Officer, Washington General Depot. It replaced the 

1879 brick toolshed-stable and adjoining frame outbuildings. The garage was 

built to house the cemetery horse that pulled the lawn mower at the time, and 

to provide a tool room and privy. It was sided in unpainted stucco probably to 

match the general character of the stone lodge. While the historic paint colors 

are not known, the 1931 National Cemetery regulations called for tin roofs to be 

painted red, the trim white, and the doors bronze-green.17 Historically screened 

in part by an arborvitae hedge, the building is today clearly visible upon entrance 

to the cemetery. Aside from installation of a new garage door on the front façade 

and an exterior steel stairway on the west (facing the cemetery entrance), the 

exterior of the building has undergone little change since the historic period. It is 

characteristic, along with its companion public restroom building, of the style of 

buildings constructed by the War Department at national cemeteries during the 

early twentieth century. 
187 

Public Restroom Building 

Evaluation: Contributing

The public restroom building, historically known as the utility building, is a small 

one-story building with a metal gable roof located at the rear of the lodge. The 

Colonial Revival-style building was constructed in 1929 by the firm of H. Herfurth 

Jr., of Washington, D. C. according to the design of the Quartermaster Supply 

Officer, Washington General Depot, with unpainted stucco siding probably to 

match the general character of the stone lodge. While the historic paint colors 

are not known, the 1931 National Cemetery regulations called for tin roofs to 

be painted red, the trim white, and the doors bronze-green.18 The building was 

constructed on the site of the c.1879 brick kitchen, which had last been used 

as a woodshed. The building was constructed to provide public restrooms, 

and to provide space for fuel storage, an electric generating motor, and a water 

tank. The restrooms were serviced by a septic tank and septic field in the lodge 

grounds completed in 1931. Aside from painting of the stucco, there have been 

no substantial changes to the building since the historic period. It is characteristic, 

along with its companion garage, of the style of buildings constructed by the War 

Department at national cemeteries during the early twentieth century.

Rostrum

Evaluation: Contributing

The rostrum is an open-air eight-sided iron pavilion on a raised brick base located 

on the eastern side of the lodge grounds. The building, reflecting the Aesthetic 

Movement in its decoration, was completed in 1897 and was a standard design 

matching the rostrums at Richmond and Yorktown National Cemeteries, among 

others. The War Department began building rostrums at national cemeteries in 

a systematic way during the 1890s. National Cemetery regulations called for the 

ironwork to be painted black, the top of the roof red, and the underside of the 

roof ceiling light blue; it is not known if this rostrum was painted in these colors. 

By 1925, ivy grew on the brick foundation, and the vine persisted at least until 

1968.19 Aside from possible changes in paint color and loss of the ivy, the rostrum 

remains intact. It is a rare-surviving example of its type, reflecting the growing 

national importance of commemoration and Memorial Day services in particular 

during the late nineteenth century. The only rostrums that remain from this period 

are at Cave Hill (Kentucky) and San Antonio (Texas) National Cemeteries.20 Only 

the base of the rostrum at Richmond National Cemetery survives. 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

188

views and vistas

This characteristic describes a prospect, either natural or constructed. Views are 

generally broad prospects of a general area, while vistas are designed and directed 

views of a particular scene or feature. During the historic period, the view of the 

cemetery across open fields from Vaughan Road, with the flagstaff rising above the 

tree canopy, was a character-defining feature of the landscape, and surely a stirring 

scene for visitors. Such a view remains at several Civil War-era national cemeteries, 

notably Glendale near Richmond. Since the historic period, this view at Poplar 

Grove has been lost due to the growth of successional woods along the west side 

of the cemetery and along the approach road. The cemetery does not come into 

view until visitors reach the parking lot, where there is no broad prospect. The 

landscape retains a view and two vistas, although they have been altered since the 

historic period.

Vista of Entrance Gates from Approach Road (National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Contributing

The eastern arc of the approach road historically revealed a vista of the cemetery 

entrance gate, symmetrically framed by the approach road allee initially planted in 

1879 with open fields to either side. Since the historic period, this vista has been 

altered by changes to the approach road allee and to the addition of the visitor 

parking lot in c.1995. While the entrance gate still comes into view, the vista is no 

longer directed at the gate due to the loss of the enclosing allee and the widening 

of the pavement into the parking lot. 

View of Flagstaff from Graves

Evaluation: Contributing

The cemetery plan, of graves facing the center in radiating circles, was devised 

so that the central flagstaff was visible from all graves. The lowering of the grave 

markers in 1934 after the historic period greatly diminished this aspect of the 

plan. In addition, low branching of specimen trees along the central circle has 

obstructed the view of the flagstaff. Although diminished, this view remains a 

character-defining feature of the landscape. 

Vista of Flagstaff from Main Drive

Evaluation: Contributing

The vista of the flagstaff upon approach along the main drive historically directed 

visitors to the center, from where the individual graves could be accessed via the 

radiating drives. Trees were apparently kept back from the main drive and central 

circle to maintain this vista. Since the end of the historic period, this vista has been 
189 

partly obstructed due to the decrease in height of the flagstaff, and encroachment 

by trees. 

small scale features

This characteristic describes elements that provide detail and diversity in the 

landscape for utility or aesthetics, including such things as benches, monuments, 

signs, and monuments. Historically, the landscape of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery was dominated by small-scale features that were standard elements in 

Civil War-era national cemeteries. Most important were the grave markers (1866-

c.1933), along with four gun monuments (1869), placed symmetrically around 

the central flagstaff; wrought-iron and wood-slat settees (c.1879) along the drives; 

sixteen cast-iron signs known as tablets (c.1881) on which were cast the legislation 

establishing the national cemeteries, an invitation to register, and four-line verses 

from the poem, “The Bivouac of the Dead.” All but one of these small-scale 

features have been removed or extensively altered since the end of the historic 

period. The tablets are presently stored in the loft of the garage. Conversion of 

the headstones and blocks to flat markers has been the most extensive change to 

the cemetery landscape since the end of the historic period. Small-scale features, 

although historically a defining characteristic, are today a minor aspect of the 

landscape. 

Vaughan Road Entrance Sign (R. Taylor Farm)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

At the south side of the approach road at its intersection with Vaughan Road is 

a standard brown-faced National Park Service sign that identifies Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery as a part of Petersburg National Battlefield. The sign, mounted 

on wood posts, was added in c.1995 and has a bed ringed by stones around its 

base. During the historic period, a sign was maintained in this general location. No 

documentation was found on the appearance or content of the historic sign. The 

existing sign does not reflect the historic solemnity or formality of the cemetery or 

Poplar Grove’s historic association with the national cemetery system. 

Odom Cemetery Fence (National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The Odom cemetery, established in 1971, is enclosed by a four-foot high chainlink fence most likely installed in 1971 at the time of the first burial. In its 

materials, design, and location, the fence detracts from historic character of the 

landscape.

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

190

Odom Cemetery Headstones (National Park Foundation)

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The Odom cemetery, established in 1971, contains two granite headstones: 

JONES, with two burials for E. Everett 1885-1981, and Nellie E. 1885-1971; 

ODOM, with two burials for Roberta E. 1914-1993, and L. Grady 1891-1971. 

Given the recent origin of the cemetery distinct from the national cemetery, 

these do not contribute to the historic character of the landscape. Given their 

small scale, however, they do not detract. The National Park Service made a 

commitment to maintain the gravestones as part of Roberta Odom’s donation of 

the property to the National Park Foundation in 1991. 

Corner Boundary Markers

Evaluation: Contributing

The corners of the federally owned cemetery property are marked by low stone 

posts. These posts were installed in 1877 as part of the resurvey and expansion 

of the cemetery property undertaken for construction of the inclosure wall. The 

irregular lines of the boundary are a result of the inaccurate original (c.1868) 

survey overlaid by the 1877 expansion that added a buffer strip between zero and 

ten feet to the perimeter of the cemetery. Although the corner boundary markers 

are not conspicuous in the landscape, they convey the historic limits of the federal 

property. Pipe posts located next to the stone posts (along with contemporary 

orange stakes), probably added after 1934, do not contribute to the historic 

character of the landscape. 

Barbed-Wire Fence

Evaluation: Non-contributing

Along the National Park Service property line south of the lodge grounds are 

remnants of a wood post and barbed-wire fence. This fence was installed in 1937 

to protect the red-cedars planted between the property line and the inclosure wall 

from livestock in the adjoining cow pasture. The fence has not been maintained 

and is in poor condition. It has been replaced by the private property owner with 

an electric livestock fence. Because it was added after the historic period, the 

barbed-wire fence does not contribute to the historic character of the landscape. 

Wood Privacy Fence

Evaluation: Non-contributing

An unfinished wood-plank fence extends from the southeast corner of the 

lodge and jogs back to the public restroom building, defining a rear yard for the 

lodge. The fence, installed after 1970, crosses the walk from the lodge to the 

public restroom building. A grape arbor, built in c.1871 and removed in c.1934, 
191 

historically existed in this location. Red-cedars were planted in this area in 1937 to 

screen the rear yard, but no longer exist. The wood privacy fence detracts from the 

historic character of the landscape through its materials and location. 

Grave Markers

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The grave markers at Poplar Grove, which currently number approximately 5,615, 

were installed between c.1866 and 2003, with the vast majority installed in 1877 

as upright headstones and square posts known as blocks. In 1934, the headstones 

and blocks were transformed into flat markers, giving Poplar Grove the character 

of a lawn-style cemetery. The park did this to ease lawn maintenance and improve 

the aesthetics of the landscape. After this time, only flat markers were installed on 

new graves and as replacement markers. As a whole, the grave markers therefore 

do not contribute to the historic character of the Poplar Grove cultural landscape 

as it relates to National Register Criterion C in the area of landscape architecture 

within the period of significance from 1866 through 1933. The post-1934 flat 

markers original to their graves may have significance under National Register 

Criterion A.21 Aside from alteration to the historic design and setting, most of the 

grave markers are in poor condition marked by chipping, cracking, staining, and 

erosion. The deteriorated and irreparably altered conditions of the existing grave 

markers are not in keeping with historic National Cemetery standards and convey 

disrespect to the veterans.

The following is an evaluation of the five types of grave markers at Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery based on significance under Criterion C in the area 

of landscape architecture, and follows the classification used by the National 

Cemetery Administration. (See also Appendix D: Chronology of GovernmentFurnished Grave Markers.)

Recessed-Shield Headstones

Recessed-shield headstones are the most numerous type at Poplar Grove. Most 

were installed at known graves in 1877 as part of a national cemetery system 

project begun in 1873 to replace all wood painted headboards initially used to 

mark graves. Poplar Grove was the last cemetery in the system to receive the 

new grave markers, which are also referred to as Civil War-style headstones. 

There were originally 2,200 headstones installed, each a Vermont white-marble 

cambered-profile tablet measuring ten inches wide, four inches thick, and thirtysix inches tall. The original specifications called for an above-ground height of 

twelve inches, but the headstones may have been installed or later raised to a 

height of eighteen inches. The inscription was set within a recessed six-point 

shield, within which was the grave number at the top, the name in the middle, and 

the state regiment at the bottom. The headstones were installed under contract 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

192

by Captain Samuel G. Bridges, and were supplied and finished by Sheldon & 

Slason of West Rutland, Vermont. The company used a sand-blast method for 

inscribing the stones. The headstones were set directly in the ground. There 

are approximately 2,046 of these first-generation recessed-shield headstones 

remaining at Poplar Grove. 

In 1903, the War Department revised its specifications for the recessed-shield 

headstone to make them more durable. Also known as Spanish-American War 

type, the revised headstones were slightly larger at twelve inches wide and 

thirty-nine inches tall. These headstones were probably installed at an aboveground height of 18 inches. The thickness remained the same at four inches. The 

inscriptions were hammered rather than sand-blasted, and featured two different 

font styles, probably representing a subsequent change in the specifications. 

Style A (as categorized by the park) had a larger font than the first generation 

headstones; style B had a cambered font. These headstones were used for 

veterans of the Spanish-American War and Civil War reinterments, and to replace 

broken grave markers (notably for the summer storms of 1915 that broke fortyseven markers). The last graves marked by this style of stone were probably 

the reinterments from the Crater battlefield made in 1931. Today there are 

approximately fifty-nine of these second-generation recessed-shield headstones at 

Poplar Grove. 

In 1934, workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) transformed all 

recessed-shield headstones into flat markers by cutting or breaking off the bases 

and laying the upper parts flush within the ground. The park subsequently sold 

the bases to a private individual, who built a nearby residence known today as the 

Tombstone House. Since the end of the historic period, approximately ninetyfive of the recessed-shield headstones have been replaced with government flat 

markers.

Unknown Blocks

The blocks marking unknown graves of Civil War casualties were installed along 

with the recessed-shield headstones in 1877 as part of a system-wide project 

begun in 1873 to replace wood painted headboards initially used to mark the 

graves. Poplar Grove was the last cemetery in the system to receive the new 

grave markers. There were originally 3,555 blocks at Poplar Grove, each a post 

of Vermont white marble measuring six inches square and thirty inches long, 

specified for installation of four inches above grade; these were probably later 

raised to six inches above grade. The blocks were installed under contract 

by Captain Samuel G. Bridges, and were supplied and finished by Sheldon & 

Slason of West Rutland, Vermont. The company used the sand-blast method for 

inscribing the blocks, which just contained the grave number on the top surface, 
193 

and if applicable, the number of remains in the grave. The blocks were set directly 

in the ground. Use of the blocks instead of headstones changed the uniformity 

of the landscape, but made visible the large percentage of soldiers who could 

not be identified. In 1903, the War Department abandoned the use of blocks for 

marking unknown graves. In 1934, the blocks were transformed when workers 

from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sunk them flush with the ground. 

Today, the blocks are barely visible in the landscape. There are roughly 3,477 

blocks remaining at Poplar Grove; approximately seventy-eight blocks have been 

replaced with different markers, most after 1933 with flat markers inscribed 

“Unknown U.S. Soldier.” 

General Headstones

The General headstone, developed by the War Department in 1922 for veterans 

of World War I in place of the recessed-shield headstone, is a white-marble 

cambered-profile tablet headstone measuring twelve inches wide, four inches 

thick, with an above-ground height of twenty-four inches. The inscription, 

without a recessed shield, includes a symbol of faith. There are thirteen of these 

headstones at Poplar Grove, most installed as replacement markers for Civil 

War graves and reinterments through 2003. Those installed prior to 1934 were 

originally upright headstones that were transformed to flat markers in 1934; later 

General headstones were installed as flat markers with their bases cut off. Those 

installed prior to World War II have a different font and size than those used after 

the war. There are approximately thirteen of these markers at Poplar Grove. 

Government Flat Markers

In 1936, the War Department introduced a rectangular marble flat marker, twentyfour inches long by twelve-inches inches wide, for use in lawn-style cemeteries. In 

1939, the same markers were offered in granite. In 1939, the National Park Service 

began to install flat markers at Poplar Grove instead of cut-off General headstones. 

Over the course of the next two decades, the park installed approximately 216 flat 

markers for both new burials (last in 1957) and as replacements. The flat markers 

installed through World War II featured a different font than those used after the 

war. The flat markers are scattered around the cemetery, with a concentration of 

new burials in Block XX (Division F). 

Government Medal of Honor Flat Markers

In 1940, the War Department adopted a bronze flat marker, twenty-four inches 

long by twelve inches wide, as a standard marker for Medal of Honor recipients. 

At some point after this time, two Civil War-style headstones at Poplar Grove were 

replaced with Medal of Honor bronze markers. 

Analysis and Evaluation
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194

Non-Government Headstones

There are five large tablet headstones at Poplar Grove that were privately 

commissioned and installed during the initial development of the cemetery 

between c.1866 and 1869, when wood headboards were being used to mark the 

graves. As with all other grave markers at Poplar Grove, these headstones were 

transformed into flat markers in 1934. While these grave markers do not presently 

contribute to the historic character of the landscape, they remain largely intact 

and could be readily returned to their historic upright position. 

In addition to these four headstones, there are approximately twenty-one other 

non-government headstones at Poplar Grove. All appear to have been installed 

prior to 1934. Some mark civilian graves (including two infants of the cemetery 

superintendents), but most are replacement markers on veteran graves. They are 

all marble tablet headstones, with either cambered, square, or gabled profiles. 

None contain the six-point shield. These non-government headstones were 

transformed into flat markers in 1934 along with the rest of the cemetery grave 

markers. Because of their non-standard design and workmanship, including 

some that are crudely inscribed, these markers could be perceived as conveying 

dishonor upon the veteran graves. 

Flagstaff

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The flagstaff, located within a circular island defined by a loop in the main 

entrance drive, is the physical and symbolic center of the cemetery. The 

first flagstaff (height not known) was erected at the start of the cemetery’s 

development in 1866, and was positioned on a six-foot high mound in the shape of 

frustum of a cone. By 1874, this wooden pole had deteriorated and was replaced 

under contract to J. C. Comfort of Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania, with a fiftysix foot tall wood flagstaff. At this time, the flagstaff mound was reduced in size 

to four feet tall and twenty-three feet wide. In 1913, the wood flagstaff, which 

cemetery inspectors had found to be too short, was again replaced with an iron 

pole (height not known). This iron pole was replaced in 1930 with a taller pole. 

It was constructed of sections bolted together with flanges, anchored by four guy 

wires, and surmounted by a ball finial. National Cemetery regulations called for 

the flagstaff to be white with the base and guy wire turnbuckles painted black. 

At approximately eighty feet high, the flagstaff reached above the tree canopy 

and was visible from Vaughan Road. This same style of flagstaff was installed at 

Fredericksburg National Cemetery. After the historic period, the pole was reduced 

in height by roughly half and the guy wires were removed. Due to this extensive 

change, the flagstaff does not contribute to the historic character of the landscape. 

It was historically a defining feature. 
195 

Analysis and Evaluation

Flagstaff Floodlight

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The flagstaff is illuminated by a contemporary floodlight mounted at ground 

level at the head of the main drive and screened by a young boxwood shrub. 

A floodlight for the flagstaff may have initially been installed in 1976, when the 

National Cemetery System instituted a program of lighting for flagstaffs. The 

existing floodlight does not contribute to the character of the landscape due to its 

recent origin and inconspicuous design. 

Gun Monument 

Evaluation: Contributing

The gun monument, consisting of an upright cannon tube with a pyramidal 

stack of cannon balls set on a concrete pad, is located to the north of the flagstaff 

along the outer edge of the main drive loop. The cannon is one of four, thirtytwo pounder Columbiad guns acquired from Fort Monroe, a federal fort on 

the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton, Virginia, and brought to Poplar Grove in 

the fall of 1868. The existing gun was the primary monument among the four, 

distinguished by a bronze shield with the burial tally and name of the cemetery. 

Gun monuments were a standard feature in national cemeteries in Virginia, with 

the large cemeteries such as Poplar Grove and Richmond receiving four each, and 

the smaller cemeteries, such as Glendale, Cold Harbor, and Seven Pines, one each. 

The existing gun monument—the only monument in the cemetery—remains 

intact except for its cannon-ball top. Its bronze shield has been painted black and 

is difficult to read. The existing concrete pad, which is cracked, dates to 1924 (the 

original type of pad is not known). The loss of the three other gun monuments, 

removed in c.1974, detracts from the historic character of the landscape. 

Drive Markers

Evaluation: Non-contributing

There are six small iron signs (also referred to as section markers) that designate 

each of the radiating drives with the letters A through F, except for the main drive 

and the drive north of the flagstaff that was filled with graves between 1896 and 

1918. These cast metal signs, painted black and measuring four by five inches 

and affixed to an iron pipe, were most likely installed in c.1957 as part of the 

redesignation of the cemetery plan from divisions and sections to blocks. Because 

they were added after the historic period, the drive markers do not contribute to 

the historic character of the landscape.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

196

Grave Locator-Interpretive Signs

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The two aluminum-frame signs to either side of the flagstaff, showing the burial 

register for known graves, a plan of the cemetery, and an illustrated history of the 

cemetery, were installed in c.1957. The signs were most likely part of a general 

grounds improvement project included in the park’s MISSION 66 prospectus. 

The plan of the cemetery shows a reclassification of the divisions and sections 

into twenty blocks, and naming of the radial avenues by the letters A through F. 

These signs do not contribute to the historic character of the landscape because 

they were installed after the historic period for the landscape. They detract from 

the historic character of the landscape due to their design, materials, and location 

that are incongruous with the formality of the center of the cemetery. The burial 

register is also worn and difficult to read.

Concrete Pads 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

There are two concrete pads to the west of the flagstaff that were probably 

installed in 1957 as the bases for benches. Each measures approximately three feet 

square. It is not known when the benches or other above-ground components 

were removed. These pads do not contribute to the historic character because 

they were added after the historic period for the landscape. 

Utilities, Signs, and Furnishings

Evaluation: Non-contributing

Scattered along the approach road, parking lot, and within the cemetery are 

small informational signs, trash containers, utility components, and a picnic table 

installed by the National Park Service since c.1990. These features are of recent 

origin and therefore do not contribute to the historic character of the landscape. 

Overall, they are inconspicuous.

archeological sites

This characteristic describes surface and subsurface remains related to historic 

or prehistoric land use. The primary archeological resources at Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery are its burials. There may be additional archeological resources 

within the cemetery, such as remains from removed built features. Archeological 

investigation could add to the historic documentation on the landscape, informing 

such questions as the function of the “cave” (c.1900-1929), a structure located 

south of the lodge, or the extent and exact location of the system of brick gutters 

(c.1866, covered in 1877). A comprehensive archeological investigation has not 
197 

Analysis and Evaluation

been undertaken to date to determine the existence and significance of potential 

resources. 

Graves

Evaluation: Contributing

There are currently 5,613 individual graves, and approximately 6,238 interments 

(the higher number is due to multiple unknown remains in single graves). The 

number of Civil War interments in 1954 was 6,178, and since that time three 

additional Civil War remains have been reinterred (in 2003).22 Recent geophysical 

and archeological testing by the park (2008) identified that in some places existing 

grave markers do not align with the head of the graves. Markers were found in 

positions between two graves, several feet above the head of the grave shaft, 

off-center from the grave shaft, or even on top of the grave shaft. A few graves 

are located within drives. The testing did not reveal evidence of the original 

1877 placement of the upright headstones.23 All graves at Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery are considered historically significant within the overall period of 

significance extending from the first interments in 1866 through the last in 2003 

(reinterment of Civil War remains).
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

198

TABLE 3.1: CULTURAL LANDSCAPE EVALUATION SUMMARY 

POPLAR GROVE NATIONAL CEMETERY 

FEATURE NAME EVALUATION COMMENTS 

Natural Systems and Features 

Triangular Woodlot (R. Taylor farm) Non-contributing Woods that grew in after 1970; historically 

part of an open field. 

West Woods (National Park Foundation) Non-contributing Woods that grew in after 1970; historically 

an open field.

North Woods (Blaha property and NPS) Contributing Part of large wooded area since late 19th

century; reduced to thin strip of woods in 

c.1972, further opened in 1994 storm. 

East Woods (Blaha and Peterson) Contributing Part of large wooded area since before the 

Civil War; opened up in c.1972 with 

construction of two houses. 

South Woods (Richardson property) Contributing Part of wooded area since late 19th century.

North Hedgerow (R. Taylor farm, 

Harrison Property) 

Non-contributing Volunteer woods that have grown up since 

c.1970.

Entrance Field Hedgerow (National Park 

Foundation, R. Taylor farm) 

Non-contributing Volunteer woods that have grown up since 

c.1970 on historically open field. 

South Hedgerow (R. Taylor farm, NPS) Non-contributing Volunteer woods that have grown up since 

c.1970 on historically open field. 

Spatial Organization 

Cemetery Approach (R. Taylor farm, 

National Park Foundation) 

Contributing Approach road right-of-way through 

private property dating to c.1866; eastern 

325 feet acquired by the National Park 

Foundation in 1991; historically framed by 

allee of deciduous trees.

Southwest Field (R. Taylor farm) Contributing Pre-dates establishment of cemetery; part 

of historic setting along approach road. 

Northwest Field (R. Taylor farm) Contributing Pre-dates establishment of cemetery; part 

of historic setting along approach road. 

Entrance Field (National Park Foundation, 

R. Taylor farm) 

Contributing Pre-dates establishment of cemetery, 

historically part of the southwest field; 

portion acquired by the National Park 

Foundation in 1991. Part of the cemetery 

setting along the approach road. 

Odom Cemetery (National Park 

Foundation) 

Non-contributing Private family cemetery established in 1971 

along approach road, acquired by the 

National Park Foundation in 1991. 
199 

Analysis and Evaluation

Southeast Field (R. Taylor farm) Contributing Pre-dates establishment of the cemetery. 

Part of the open rural setting of the 

cemetery. 

Cemetery Inclosure Space Contributing Cemetery perimeter, 1866; resurveyed and 

enlarged, 1877; west side changed with 

addition of Odom tract in 1991. 

Service Yard Contributing Maintenance area of the cemetery, dating 

to c.1871; enclosed by fence/hedge until 

c.1974.

Lodge Grounds Contributing Assembly area of the cemetery, dating to 

c.1871.

Burial Grounds Contributing Space containing the graves, defined by the 

enclosure wall, lodge grounds, and service 

area; altered internally through loss of 

trees, shrubs, and conversion of headstones 

to flat markers.

Land Use 

No associated features.

Circulation 

Approach Road (R. Taylor farm, National 

Park Foundation) 

Contributing Entrance drive from Vaughan Road, built 

in c.1866, paved in 1931. Federal right-ofway.

Driveway to Blaha and Peterson Houses 

(Blaha and Peterson properties) 

Non-contributing Built in c.1972; partly within NPS right-ofway. 

Visitor Parking Area (National Park 

Foundation) 

Non-contributing Built c.1995. 

Main Drive Contributing Drive from approach road to flagstaff, built 

in c.1866, paved in 1931.

Service Drive Contributing Short drive between garage and main drive, 

initially built c.1871, enlarged to present 

width in c.1974.

Burial Grounds Drives Contributing Primary circulation routes through burial 

grounds, built with gravel surface and brick 

gutters in 1866-1869; changed to grass 

surface c.1872-1874; brick gutters covered, 

1877.

Burial Grounds Walks Contributing Secondary circulation routes through 

burial grounds (primarily corridors 

between grave rows), built 1866-1869. 

Restroom Walks Contributing Built c.1929.

Restroom Path Non-contributing Built 2003 for public access to the 

restrooms.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

200

Topography 

Drainage Ditch (NPS and Blaha property) Non-contributing Built c.1869, rebuilt c.1957 

Vegetation 

Approach Road Trees (R. Taylor Farm, 

National Park Foundation) 

Non-contributing Planted as formal allee in 1879, replanted 

1882, 1931; approximately 14 of original 80 

allee trees remaining; trees replaced by 

volunteer vegetation since c.1970. 

Odom Cemetery Trees & Shrubs Non-contributing Post-1971.

Cemetery Specimen Trees Contributing All trees probably post-1871. Contribute 

overall despite post-1934 plantings. 

Cemetery Shrubs Non-contributing All shrubs post-1871. Existing shrubs either 

remnants of historic plantings or were 

planted after 1934. 

Cemetery Lawn Contributing Established c.1866.

Inclosure Ivy Groundcover (NPS, National 

Park Foundation, Blaha and Peterson 

properties) 

Non-contributing Planted along inside of inclosure wall in 

1888; removed in c.1960; escaped outside 

of wall.

Inclosure Red-cedar Trees Non-Contributing Planted 1937; remnant specimens south of 

lodge grounds, along west inclosure. 

Buildings and Structures 

Inclosure Wall and Entrance Gate Contributing Built 1876.

Lodge Contributing Built 1871-1872; rear kitchen wing built in 

1914; slate roof replace in metal and porch 

floor rebuilt in concrete, 1931. 

Garage Contributing Built 1929.

Public Restroom Building Contributing Built 1929.

Rostrum Contributing Built 1897.

Views and Vistas 

Vista of Entrance Gates from Approach 

Road 

Contributing C. 1866, 1877. 

View of Flagstaff from Graves Contributing C.1866

Vista of Flagstaff from Main Drive Contributing C. 1866.

Small-Scale Features 

Vaughan Road Entrance Sign (R. Taylor 

Farm) 

Non-contributing Added c.1990. 

Odom Cemetery Fence (National Park 

Foundation) 

Non-contributing Added c.1971. 

Odom Cemetery Headstones (National 

Park Foundation) 

Non-contributing Three markers added c.1971, 1981, 1993. 

Corner Boundary Markers Contributing Installed 1877.
201 

Analysis and Evaluation

endnotes

1 Robert R. Page, Cathy A. Gilbert, and Susan A. Dolan, A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and 

Techniques (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1998).

2 How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15, 1991), 

36.

3 Current National Register online database for Petersburg National Battlefield, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, listing 

66000831, http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/VA/Dinwiddie/districts.html. The acreage of the park cited in 

the listing is not accurate. 

4 John Milner Associates, “Petersburg National Battlefield National Register Nomination, 80% draft submission” 

(Prepared for the National Park Service Northeast Regional Office, February 2006). 

5 Therese T. Sammartino, “National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, Civil War Era 

National Cemeteries” (Department of Veterans Affairs, 31 August 1994, certified by the Keeper of the Register, 14 October 

1994). 

6 Additional research and evaluation may be required to fully document all areas of historical significance for all cemetery 

resources, such as through the park’s List of Classified Structures (LCS) and Archeological Sites Management Information 

System (ASMIS).

7 Sammartino, Section F, page 3.

Barbed-Wire Fence Non-contributing Built 1937; remnants along south 

boundary.

Wood Privacy Fence Non-contributing Added c.1970. 

Grave Markers Non-contributing Installed c.1866-2003; altered after historic 

period for the landscape (1866-1933) and 

overall deteriorated. Some may contribute 

under Criterion A.

Flagstaff Non-contributing Installed 1931 (replaced earlier flagstaffs), 

altered c.1974.

Flagstaff Floodlight Non-contributing Added after c.1976.

Gun Monument Contributing Installed 1869; one of original four 

remaining.

Drive Markers Non-contributing Added c.1957.

Grave Locator-Interpretive Signs Non-contributing Added c.1957.

Concrete Pads Non-contributing Near flagstaff; added c.1957. 

Utilities, Signs, and Furnishings Non-contributing Installed after c.1990.

Archeological Sites 

Graves Contributing Most interred 1866-1869; last new burial 

1957; most recent Civil War reinterment in 

2003.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

202

8 Sammartino, Section E, page 7. 

9 According to the Poplar Grove burial register, the interment of three Civil War remains in 2003 were the first burials since 

1957. 

10 How to Apply the National Register Criteria, 36.

11 Sammartino, Section F, page 3.

12 It is not known if similar changes were instituted at other national cemeteries at the same time. Today, the drives (except 

for main drive) at City Point, Cold Harbor, Culpeper, Fort Harrison, Glendale, Richmond, and Seven Pines National 

Cemeteries are turf.

13 How to Apply the National Register Criteria, 36.

14 Memorandum, Paul Weinbaum, Lead Historian, New England System Support Office, to Katy Lacy, Olmsted Center 

for Landscape Preservation, 29 May 1997, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Gettysburg Cultural Landscape 

Report, National Register file. The Keeper’s opinion was in reference to Gettysburg National Cemetery, but applies to all 

units of the National Cemetery System. 

15 How to Apply the National Register Criteria, 44-45.

16 The date of installation of the Lincoln Memorial tablet at Poplar Grove may have occurred at the fortieth anniversary 

of the speech in 1903. Lincoln Memorial tablets are referenced on page 15 in the 1911 edition, “Regulations for the 

Government of National Cemeteries.” 

17 U.S. War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General, Regulations for the Government of National Cemeteries

(Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1911; revised edition, 1931), 30-31.

18 National Cemetery Regulations, 30-31.

19 John Tallman, Superintendent, Quarterly Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 30 September 1925, Poplar 

Grove NPS War Department Records, National Archives II, College Park, Maryland, box 50; Fred Bell, photograph of the 

rostrum, Fred Bell, 1968, park administration files for Poplar Grove, Petersburg National Battlefield.

20 Sammartino, Section E, pages 10-11.

21 Further evaluation under Criterion A is beyond the scope of this Cultural Landscape Report.

22 Access database burial record, Petersburg National Battlefield; Herbert Olsen, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery 

History” (Unpublished NPS report, 31 May 1954), 31. The Access database burial record indicates 5,613 graves and sixty 

non-Civil War burials. 

23 Petersburg National Battlefield, “Park Review of Draft Cultural Landscape Treatment Plan,” 30 July 2008, 4-5, referring 

to “Phase I Archeological Survey: Rehabilitate Poplar Grove National Cemetery Project” (Prepared for Petersburg National 

Battlefield by A.D. Marble & Company, December 2008).
170

160

160

170

170

170

170

wio wio

c

wio

c

ch

h

h

yb

yb

m m

lp

e

e

e

lp

lp

po

po

lp

lp

lp

lp

lp

bx

s

lp

lp

lp

lp

m

hm

m

lp

lp

s

lp

e e e

e e

e

m

e

e

e

D

C B

A

F

E

M N

P

O O

O

N

N

O

O

O

N O

O

O

O

e pl pl

pl

pl

pl

e

e

hc

pe

bx

bx

pl pl

bx

170 Vaughan Road

NPS cemetery sign

Approach Road (1866)

(Federal right-of-way)

Approach road trees

(remnant allee trees,

1878-1931,

volunteer trees

post-1970)

Asphalt pavement

(1931) Sand coat (2003)

matchline

Northwest field

Odom 

cemetery

(1971) 

Visitor parking

lot (c.1995)

Field

Driveway to

Blaha & Peterson

houses (c.1972)

National Park Foundation

Odom tract

Private mailboxes

Entrance field

West woods

(post 1970)

Triangular

woodlot

(post 1970)

Southwest field

Site of farm 

cross road

(c.1911-1970)

Vista of main

gate

R. Taylor Farm

North hedgerow (post-1970)

Entrance field

 hedgerow

ma

ma

lp

tt

c

lp

h

rm

m

c

wc

sg

rm

h

c

cm (4)

sm

sg

c

c

c

c

c

h

c

c

rm

c

c

c c

c c

c

c

bx

h

cm

c

c

h

ph

c

c

c

wio

ro

wio

bx

bx

h cm

rm h

bx

ma bx

c

c

c

c

c

s c

c

rm

lp

lp

c

c

c c c c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

c

ma

lp

lp

lp

lp lp

g

wo m

bx

lp

bx

bx

bx

bx

e

Specimen Tree-Shrub Key 

bx Boxwood

c Cedar (Eastern red-cedar)

ch Cherry

cm Crape myrtle 

e Elm

fp Foxtail pine

h Holly

hc Horsechestnut

lp Loblolly pine

m Maple (red or sugar)

ma Magnolia (southern)

p Poplar (white poplar)

pe Peach

pl Plum

po Pin oak

rm Red maple

ro Red oak

s Spruce (Colorado blue 

 or Norway)

sg Sweet-gum

sm Sugar maple

tt Tulip-tree

wo Water oak

wio Willow oak

wc White cedar

yb Yellow birch

Species of removed trees indicated

where known.

bx

c Brick inclosure wall (1876)

Iron flagstaff 

(1930, lowered c.1974)

Marble gravemarkers (1877)

headstones and blocks

Laid flush with ground(1934)

See INSET

INSET

matchline

West woods

(post-1970)

South inclosure woods (pre-1933)

Lodge

(1871-72) 

Rostrum 

(1897)

Service Yard

Asphalt pavement

(1931)

Gravel coat (2003)

East woods 

(pre-1933)

Drainage ditch (c.1869, c.1957)

Odom tract

(National Park Foundation)

Down-slope

Public restroom

building (1929)

Garage

 (1929) Main drive

Concrete curb

(1931)

National Park Foundation

South hedgerow (post-1970)

Southeast field

Remains of barbed-wire 

fence along boundary (1937)

Driveway to Blaha & Peterson houses (c.1972)

culvert (c.1972)

Entrance field

x x x

x x

Wood plank fence

(c.1970)

Visitor parking area (c.1995)

Drive markers, typ. (c.1957)

Grave locator-interpretive

signs (c.1957)

English ivy naturalized

outside of inclosure wall

Vineyard

(historically woods)

Blaha

property

Peterson

property

Loblolly 

pines

Peterson

house 

(c.1972)

30’ 

Blaha

house 

(c.1972)

30’ 

Richardson property

(Farley farm)

R. Taylor farm

Block

XX

Gun monument (1869)

Overhead utlity line (c.1972)

Corner boundary markers 

(1877) (typ.)

Lodge Grounds

Approach road

(c.1866)

Cemetery

Inclosure

Burial Grounds

Cemetery Inclosure

Cemetery

Inclosure

Restroom path (2003)

wellhead

 (c.1990)

Assembly area

North woods (pre-1933)

Grass drives (typ.)

(1866-1869)

Surface changed to turf (c.1874)

Brick gutters filled (1878)

Service drive

(c.1871)

Floodlight

Site of settee (typ.)

(c.1878-c.1974)

Site of gun monuments (typ.)

(1869-c.1974)

Site of

arborvitae hedge

(c.1888-c.1974)

Site of Maltese 

cross hedge

(c.1872-c.1985)

Site of iron tablet (typ.)

(c.1881-c.1957)

m

Site of grape arbor

(c.1872-c.1934)

Entrance

gates

(1876)

Asphalt pavement (1931)

Sand coat (2003)

Turn-around drive,

walk (c.1871-c.1929)

Grass walks (typ.)

Site of box- (1866-1869)

wood allee

(c.1871-c.1974) 

Vista of flagstaff

V

V

Site of English ivy

on inside of inclosure

wall (c.1888-c.1957) 

Site of well house

(c.1871-c.1939)

Well cover

(c.1939-c.1974)

Tablet Key

M General Orders No. 80, Sept. 1, 1875 (1)

N Act to Establish and Protect National 

 Cemeteries, February 22, 1867 (4)

O Four-line verses from 

 “The Bivouac of the Dead” (10) 

P “Visitors Notice, Invitation to Register” (1)

Site of wagon road

(c.1870-c.1972)

Exterior steel

staircase

(c.1990)

Frame shed

(c.1982)

Inclosure red cedars

(historically

woods)

(historically

woods)

R. Taylor

National Park Foundation

National Park Service

Drive

Drive

Walk

Blaha property

Restroom walks (c.1929)

Concrete pads 

(c.1957-c.1982) Cemetery Setting and Approach A-a A-b

A-c A-d

A-e

(Block III) A-f

(Block IV)

B-a

B-b

B-c

B-d

B-e

B-f

B-g

B-h

C-b C-a

C-c C-d

C-e

C-f

C-g

C-h

D-a

D-b

D-c

D-d

D-f

(Block XVI)

D-e

(Block XV)

D-g

(Block XVII)

E

(Block XVIII)

F

(Block XIX)

rm

(Block XI) (Block XII)

(Block IX)

(Block II)

(Block I)

(Block XIV) (Block V)

(Block VI)

(Block XIV) (Block VII)

(Block VIII)

(Block IX)

(Block XIV)

(Block II)

(Block VI)

(Block VII)

(Block VIII)

B-g

Feature removed since historic period

Feature added since historic period

Property line

Inclosure (perimeter) wall

Grave markers (1 dash = approx. 1 marker)

Cemetery division-section 

Building

Road 

Walk

Gun monument

Iron tablet with key reference

Bench

Fence

Drive marker

Conifer tree 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

Lawn

Naturalized English ivy

10' contour 

Drainage through inclosure wall

Wetland 

O

0’ 25’ 50’ 75’ 100’

0’ 150’ 300’

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Analysis and Evaluation

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

SOURCES

CLR period plans and existing conditions plan

LEGEND

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Drawing 3.1

NOTES

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter, Illustrator CS3, 2009

1. Plan shows character-defining features removed since the end of the 

 historic period (1933) by dashed lines. 

2. Vegetation extant in c.1933 is approximate, based on 1931 War 

 Department planting plan; species shown where known.

3. Dates in brackets indicate date of initial construction and removal 

 where applicable.

4. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

205 

Treatment

Treatment

As documented in the previous chapter, the landscape of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery retains its overall rural setting and primary historic features, but many 

of its details have been altered, lost, or obscured. The loss of upright headstones 

in particular detracts from the dignity of the graves and the identity of Poplar 

Grove as a unit of the Civil War-era national cemetery system. Through a relatively 

limited number of changes to the landscape, however, Poplar Grove may again

honor those who gave their lives to the country. 

The National Park Service defines treatment as a preservation plan with the goal 

of enhancing the historic character of a cultural landscape within the context of 

its contemporary function.1

 Treatment essentially describes how the landscape 

should look in the future. While focused on historic preservation, treatment also 

addresses other park management goals, such as public access, natural resource 

conservation, and interpretation. Treatment does not address routine and cyclical 

measures, such as tree pruning and lawn mowing, necessary to maintain the 

existing character of the landscape.2

This chapter addresses the scope of the forthcoming line-item construction 

project, “Restore Facilities, Resources & Character Defining Elements to National 

Cemetery Standards” (PMIS 89424), as well as other short- and long-term 

treatment issues identified through park planning and research for this report. 

The recommendations also reflect input from park staff at a treatment workshop, 

public comments at two civic engagements, review by National Cemetery 

Administration staff, and consideration from project planners.3

The treatment recommendations in this chapter are focused on the cemetery 

proper—the land within and including the cemetery inclosure wall—and the 

cemetery approach from Vaughan Road within the existing federal right-of-way. 

Recommendations also address the surrounding private properties that form the 

historic rural setting of the cemetery. Treatment of private property is based on the 

park’s intention to preserve these lands through possible federal acquisition.

The chapter begins by presenting a framework that, based on applicable 

policies, standards, and regulations, establishes an overall treatment philosophy 

that describes the intended historic character of the landscape. Based on this 

framework and a summary of general treatment issues, the body of this chapter 

provides narrative guidelines and tasks to preserve and enhance the historic 

character of the landscape. The narrative guidelines are supported by graphics 

including a series of treatment plans (drawings 4.1 through 4.4). 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

206

Framework for treatment

The framework for treatment of the Poplar Grove National Cemetery landscape 

is based in federal legislation that established the National Cemetery System 

during the Civil War and subsequently directed its initial development. The 

Congressional Joint Resolution of April 31, 1866 directed the establishment of 

national cemeteries to “preserve from desecration the graves of the soldiers of the 

United States,” and to provide them with “suitable burial places in which they may 

be properly interred; and to have the grounds enclosed, so that the resting-places 

of the honored dead may be kept sacred forever.”4

 Congress further articulated 

its intent through “An Act to Establish and Protect National Cemeteries” passed 

on February 22, 1867 that directed standard facilities and improvements at all 

national cemeteries. Treatment of the Poplar Grove landscape is also derived from 

subsequent federal legislation pertaining to historic preservation and the National 

Park System, from National Cemetery Administration standards, and from park 

planning within Petersburg National Battlefield.

National Park Service Regulations and Policies

As a component of the National Park System, treatment of Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery is guided by the mission of the National Park Service “...to conserve 

the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to 

provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will 

leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations” (Organic Act of 

1916). The application of this mission to cultural landscapes is articulated in the 

Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, which 

in turn are interpreted within a hierarchy of regulations and policies in National 

Park Service management. As a cultural resource, management of Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery is defined by 36 CFR Part 2: Resource Protection, Public Use 

and Recreation (Preservation of Natural, Cultural, and Archeological Resources). 

The application of these regulations to cultural landscapes are contained within 

National Park Service Management Policies (2006), Director’s Order #28 (Cultural 

Resource Management), and National Park Service Resource Management 

Guidelines (NPS-28). 

In addition to its management as a cultural resource, Poplar Grove is also 

subject to National Park Service regulations and policies specific to its status as a 

national cemetery. These include 36 CFR Part 12: National Cemetery Regulations, 

which are modeled after the parallel regulations under the National Cemetery 

Administration, 38 CFR Part 38: National Cemeteries of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs. The National Cemetery Administration is an agency within the 

Department of Veterans Affairs that administers the National Cemetery System. 

As reorganized in 1973, the National Cemetery System is comprised only of 
207 

national cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs.5 

The fourteen national cemeteries within the National Park System are thereby 

excluded from the National Cemetery System. 

The National Park Service national cemetery regulations provide general direction 

on cemetery use, including interments, special events, and floral tributes, and on 

the design of grave markers. These regulations are further defined through policy 

and guidelines beginning with National Park Service Management Policies (2006), 

which state under section 8.6.10.1 (Use of the Parks): 

All national cemeteries administered by the National Park Service will 

be managed as historically significant resources, and as integral parts of 

larger historical parks. Burials in national cemeteries will be permitted, 

pursuant to applicable regulations, until available space has been filled...

The enlargement of a national cemetery for additional burials constitutes 

a modern intrusion, compromising the historical character of both the 

cemetery and historical park, and will not be permitted.6

National Park Service Director’s Order #61: National Cemetery Operations 

supplements the Management Policies and “...set[s] forth additional policy 

and procedures by which the NPS will preserve and administer the national 

cemeteries for which the NPS is responsible”. 7 There are no parallel management 

guidelines for Director’s Order #61 as there are for Director’s Order #28. Director’s 

Order #61 primarily concerns cemetery operations, installation of grave markers 

and commemorative monuments, and use of flags. Details of these policies are 

referenced to the following Department of Veterans Affairs publications:

National Cemetery System Policy Manual M40-1 (5 May 1975)

Operations of National Cemetery Manual M40-2 (1 May 1984)

Headstones and Markers Manual M40-3 (3 December 1982)

The Headstone and Markers Manual, which the National Cemetery Administration 

is currently revising, details eligibility, documentation, and marker styles. 

Important specifications for cultural landscape treatment include the types of 

headstones furnished, disposition of removed headstones, and replacement of 

headstones. Much of the manual is devoted to specifications for inscriptions. 

Replacement of historic headstones is also addressed in National Cemetery 

Administration Notice 2004-06, which includes information about the importance 

of preservation of the cultural landscape versus correcting information on 

nineteenth-century markers.8

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

208

National Cemetery Administration Standards

While treatment of the Poplar Grove landscape is subject through Director’s 

Order #61 only to the Veterans Affairs headstone and markers policy, other 

National Cemetery Administration policies and standards have relevance to the 

National Park Service management of its national cemeteries. Both agencies share 

in the federal government’s historic mission to honor the dead and keep their 

burial places sacred forever, as embodied in the Congressional Joint Resolution of 

April 3, 1866.

The National Cemetery Administration in recent years has completed revised 

guidelines on management of its landscapes in response to the Veterans 

Millennium Health Care and Benefit Act of 1999 (Title VI, Subtitle B, Section 

613) that required a study of repairs needed at national cemeteries under the 

Department of Veterans Affairs. Based on this study, the National Cemetery 

Administration established the National Shrine Commitment, which articulates an 

overall vision for national cemeteries as national shrines: 

A national shrine is a place of honor and memory that declares to the 

visitor or family member who views it that, within its majestic setting, 

each and every veteran may find a sense of serenity, historic sacrifice and 

nobility of purpose. Each visitor should depart feeling that the grounds, the 

gravesites and the environs of the national cemetery are a beautiful and 

awe-inspiring tribute to those who gave much to preserve our Nation’s 

freedom and way of life.9

As detailed in the National Cemetery Administration’s “Operational Standards 

and Measures” (2004) that implement the National Shrine Commitment, the 

vision is evident in the agency’s high level of maintenance and care, even at its 

oldest cemeteries such as the Civil War-era 

Richmond National Cemetery (fig. 4.1). The 

Operational Standards and Measures are 

the most current in a long line of published 

national cemetery standards going back 

to the beginning of the twentieth century 

under War Department administration. 

These outline requirements ranging from the 

percentage of lawn that must be weed free, 

to the percentage of headstones that must 

not show evidence of debris or objectionable 

accumulations (fig. 4.2).10

Figure 4.1: Well-kept character 

of Civil War-era Richmond 

National Cemetery looking 

toward the central flagstaff. This 

cemetery illustrates the high 

level of maintenance carried 

out by the National Cemetery 

Administration. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.) 
209 

Although the National Shrine Commitment only pertains 

to the National Cemetery Administration, its standards 

designed to impart honor, memory, majesty, serenity, and 

beauty were also found historically in the development of 

all national cemeteries, including Poplar Grove. 

Aside from existing National Cemetery Administration 

standards, the historic National Cemetery Regulations

are also applicable to the treatment of the Poplar Grove 

landscape (Applicable excerpts of the 1931 edition in 

Appendix I). 11 These regulations, initially published in 

1911 and incorporating standards extending back to the 

founding of the system during the Civil War, provide detailed direction on the 

treatment of headstones, buildings, and grounds during the period of significance 

for the Poplar Grove landscape. While these regulations provide an appropriate 

basis for the treatment of historic landscape features, they do not address 

contemporary needs for historic preservation and interpretation. 

Park Planning

The framework for treatment of Poplar Grove National Cemetery is also derived 

from park planning through the recently completed General Management Plan 

for Petersburg National Battlefield. While not offering any specific details on 

landscape treatment (except to a reference about replacing headstones), the 

preferred alternative in the General Management Plan calls for the rehabilitation 

of Poplar Grove to reflect the original sense of contemplation, quiet, and 

solemnity as part of the park’s “Historic Interpretive Zone.” The preferred 

alternative, entitled “The Landscape Tells the Stories,” calls for returning to 

the early character of the landscape with upright headstones: “Visitors to the 

cemetery will experience a place much closer in design and atmosphere to the 

original cemetery, established in 1868 [sic]. The replaced headstones will evoke 

the original intentions of the designer.”12 In addition, the preferred alternative 

calls for National Park Service acquisition of the land adjoining the cemetery 

to protect the setting and the adjoining battlefield, and for rehabilitating the 

cemetery lodge into a visitor contact station for Poplar Grove and other areas 

within the park’s Western Front.13

Treatment philosophy

The recommended treatment philosophy for the Poplar Grove landscape is 

derived from the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic 

Properties. The Standards outline four approaches to treatment: Preservation

(maintenance of the landscape as it currently exists); Restoration (returning 

Treatment

Figure 4.2: Illustration from 

the National Cemetery 

Administration’s “Operational 

Standards and Measures” 

showing standards for 

“headstones, markers and niche 

covers that do not show evidence 

of debris or objectionable 

accumulations” and “proper 

height and alignment for each 

headstone is maintained.” This 

image also shows standards for 

lawn maintenance. (Department 

of Veterans Affairs, National 

Cemetery Administration, 

“National Shrine Commitment 

Operational Standards and 

Measures,” Version 2.0, October 

2004. The identity of the 

cemetery is not indicated.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

210

the landscape to a prior historic condition); Reconstruction (rebuilding of a lost 

landscape); and Rehabilitation (enhancing the historic character of the landscape 

while making compatible modifications to address contemporary uses and needs; 

usually incorporates one or all of the other treatments). These four treatments 

share a common philosophical approach that emphasizes retention of historic 

character and repair rather than replacement of historic materials.14 

The recommended primary (overall) treatment for Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery is Rehabilitation in keeping with the preferred alternative of the 

Petersburg Battlefield General Management Plan and the scope of work in the 

upcoming line-item construction project. 15 The following are the individual 

standards for Rehabilitation adapted to cultural landscapes: 

1. A cultural landscape is used as it was historically or is given a new or 

adaptive use that maximizes the retention of historic materials, features, 

spaces, and spatial relationships.

2. The historic character of a cultural landscape is retained and preserved. 

3. The replacement or removal of intact or repairable historic materials or 

alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a 

landscape is avoided.

4. Each cultural landscape is recognized as a physical record of its time, 

place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, 

such as adding conjectural features from other landscapes, are not 

undertaken. Work needed to stabilize, consolidate, and conserve historic 

materials and features is physically and visually compatible, identifiable 

upon close inspection, and properly documented for future research.

5. Changes to a cultural landscape that have acquired historical 

significance in their own right are retained and preserved.

6. Historic materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or 

examples of craftsmanship that characterize a cultural landscape are 

preserved.

7. Deteriorated historic features are repaired rather than replaced. Where 

the severity of deterioration requires repair or replacement of a historic 

feature, the new feature matches the old in design, color, texture, and, 

where possible, materials. Repair or replacement of missing features is 

substantiated by archeological, documentary, or physical evidence.

8. Chemical or physical treatments that cause damage to historic materials 

are not used.

9. Archeological and structural resources are protected and preserved 

in place. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures are 

undertaken including recovery, curation, and documentation.
211 

10. Additions, alterations, or related new construction do not destroy 

historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize 

the cultural landscape. New work is differentiated from the old and is 

compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, 

and massing of the landscape.

11. Additions and adjacent or related new construction are undertaken 

in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and 

integrity of the cultural landscape would be unimpaired.16

Rehabilitation is the most appropriate treatment for Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery because of the need to provide for contemporary park functions, visitor 

services, and environmental sustainability. This treatment focuses on managing 

the landscape for its historic character by preserving defining features, returning 

key features that have been lost, and allowing for change inherent in vegetation 

and necessary for contemporary uses. Contemporary changes will be in keeping 

with the historic character of the landscape and represent a minor component in 

the overall treatment. Within Rehabilitation as the primary treatment, much of the 

feature-level treatment will involve Preservation, Restoration, and Reconstruction

in order to retain and enhance the historic character of the landscape.

The following paragraph describes the Poplar Grove landscape based on 

implementation of this treatment philosophy:17

Poplar Grove National Cemetery is a sacred and well-preserved historic 

landscape of honor and memory. The landscape tells the story of the 

cemetery’s initial establishment in 1866 through its development under 

the War Department into the early 1930s, as well as its subsequent use for 

new burials through 1957 and for reinterment of Civil War remains to 

the present. The landscape is characterized by a circular plan with upright 

white marble headstones and blocks, unified by lawn and shaded by an 

informal distribution of specimen evergreen and deciduous trees, including 

loblolly pines that predate the cemetery’s establishment. The graves are 

centered on a majestic flagstaff encircled by gun monuments, and are 

organized by radiating and circular grass drives. A screened service yard 

and welcoming assembly area with a well-preserved iron rostrum and 

Meigs-style lodge flank the entrance. The cemetery is framed within its 

surrounding rural setting by a brick inclosure wall with gates approached 

through a ceremonial tree-lined road. The landscape is well maintained 

and reflects the historic characteristics of Civil War-era national 

cemeteries.

Treatment
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212

Treatment Date 

The recommended treatment for Poplar Grove is to rehabilitate the landscape to 

its character at the end of the War Department administration in 1933, prior to 

its transfer to the National Park Service and subsequent alteration of the upright 

grave markers. This date, which serves as a benchmark for treatment, incorporates 

the development of the cemetery landscape from its founding in 1866 through the 

course of nearly seven decades of military administration when the majority of 

burials took place. 

Treatment of the Poplar Grove landscape to the end of the War Department 

administration in 1933 corresponds with the final years of the recommended 

period of significance for the landscape under National Register Criterion C. 

This date recognizes the continued use of the cemetery for burials after 1933, 

and preserves these later graves as part of the significance of the cemetery under 

National Register Criterion A. Where post-1933 features or alterations (aside 

from graves) conflict with the historic character of the cemetery, they will be 

recommended for removal; where they are compatible with the historic character, 

they may be retained for aesthetic or functional values, or simply as testimony to 

the continued evolution of the cemetery landscape. 

Aside from corresponding with the end of the period of significance, the end of 

the War Department era (1933) provides an appropriate treatment date for the 

following additional reasons: 

	 The War Department undertook a five-year improvement program between 

c.1929 and 1933 that resulted in the addition of the public restroom building 

and garage, the planting of 101 trees, a metal roof on the lodge, a new flagstaff, 

paving of the approach road and main drive, and removal of the old stable and 

lodge kitchen. This period reflects the maturity of the landscape after more 

than six decades of War Department administration. Returning the landscape 

to an earlier character would present inconsistencies with these post-1929 

features that would not be in keeping with the Secretary of the Interior’s 

Standards.

	 Restoring the “original” plan of Poplar Grove, as described in the General 

Management Plan, is not feasible because there was no one original design 

for the landscape aside from the arrangement of the graves and circulation. 

Many landscape features were added and altered after the cemetery’s initial 

development between 1866 and 1869, including building of the lodge and 

service buildings and removal of the original gravel surface and brick gutters 

on the drives in the 1870s, addition of the rostrum in 1897, surfacing of the 

main drive with gravel in c.1900, and thinning of vegetation through the 

early twentieth century. The improvements made between c.1929 and 1933 
213 

represent a continuation of the cemetery’s historic development under 

military administration. 

	 There is a lack of graphic documentation on the landscape adequate to 

return to a character prior to c.1929. The earliest photographs show only the 

cemetery center (c.1895) and the main entrance (1904) (see figs. 1.48, 1.55). 

The 1892 Quartermaster General plan of the cemetery (see fig. 1.51) shows 

the location of woody vegetation, but does not indicate species, scale, or the 

distinction between trees and shrubs. It also does not indicate the location of 

flowerbeds. By 1892, there had already been much change in the vegetation, 

notably through the removal of the sylvan hall of elms. Returning to the dense 

planting scheme of c.1892 or earlier would also likely pose an impractical 

maintenance burden.

	 The national cemetery regulations published by the War Department in 1931 

correspond with the recommended treatment period, thus providing a sound 

basis for treatment of most landscape features. No published regulations were 

found prior to 1911. 

General treatment issues

The following are general treatment issues that inform the treatment guidelines 

and tasks in the second part of this chapter. Overall, these issues concern the 

loss of historic character in the landscape, preservation of the rural setting, and 

condition issues unfitting a national cemetery. 

Grave Markers

The majority of the headstones and blocks, which were transformed into flat 

markers in 1934 and are deteriorating to the point of illegibility, do not meet 

national cemetery standards. Most are stained, chipped, and eroded, and some 

are cracked and have sunken below the turf. Most were crudely broken off their 

bases (bottom edge is an irregular break). When looking across the cemetery 

landscape, the markers are largely invisible. Most importantly, the grave markers 

do not convey honor and respect in their irreparably altered and deteriorated 

condition. The existing condition of the markers also makes it difficult to locate 

graves and read inscriptions. Addressing the condition of the grave markers is the 

key treatment issue for Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 

Grave Locator System

The present grave locator system at Poplar Grove is provided by a worn burial 

ledger sign and map next to the central flagstaff, which reflect the c.1957 

reordering of the cemetery into blocks and radial avenues lettered A through F. 

The sign has become illegible due to fading, and there are no markers identifying 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

214

individual blocks, only small signs at the center identifying the radial drives. 

Most national cemeteries have grave section markers, and provide grave location 

information at the cemetery entrance, not at the center. These conditions make it 

difficult for visitors to locate graves. 

Historic Character and National Cemetery Standards

Since the Civil War, the character of national cemeteries has been defined by 

the intangible attributes of honor, respect, and memory. The National Cemetery 

Administration has generally implemented these attributes through a much higher 

level of landscape maintenance than the National Park Service. For example, the 

National Cemetery Administration, maintains uniformity in the lawn, precisely 

aligns headstones, and cleans them to a pristine white three times per year (see 

figs. 4.1, 4.2). The National Park Service, in contrast, generally does 

not routinely align and clean its headstones, or maintain lawns 

to the same uniform quality (fig. 4.3). The National Cemetery 

Administration also generally prioritizes contemporary cemetery 

operations over preservation of historic landscapes as evident by 

its practice of removing trees from the burial grounds without 

replacement. 18

As discussed under the preceding framework for treatment, the 

National Park Service is not obligated to follow the National 

Cemetery Administration’s landscape regulations and policies, 

except as they pertain to the design of headstones and markers. 

Despite this, a low level of maintenance in the landscape—even 

though it may be the best preservation approach for built materials—

may evoke an unintentional message of disrespect. The park must 

therefore carefully guard against certain aspects of maintenance and 

treatment that may be perceived as disrespectful, but at the same time 

also preserve the historic character and materials of the landscape. 

Overall, the Poplar Grove landscape warrants a higher level of 

maintenance than is typically found at National Park Service historic sites. While 

Poplar Grove is a historic landscape, it will also forever remain a functioning 

national cemetery. 

Visitor Amenities and Signage

Lack of visitor amenities and signage gives Poplar Grove a forlorn character 

unfitting the commemorative function of a national cemetery. The few existing 

visitor amenities include signs and restrooms that are not universally accessible. 

The lodge, which most recently served as a park staff residence but is now 

unoccupied except to serve as an office when a park ranger is present, contains 

Figure 4.3: Recent photograph 

of Antietam National Cemetery 

showing level of maintenance 

at a National Park Serviceadministered national 

cemetery. Note the difference in 

maintenance of the headstones 

compared with figures 4.1 and 

4.2. (Undated photograph by 

Keith Snyder, image 20060829 

152450, Antietam National 

Battlefield website.)
215 

no facilities for tourists or those paying respects to veterans and family members. 

There are no benches within the cemetery, as there were historically. The 

assembly area, located in the open lawn in front of the rostrum, has lost most of 

its specimen trees, giving it a barren feeling with little shade during warm-weather 

events, such as Memorial Day. The cemetery lacks a welcoming entrance due to its 

parking lot with a worn sand/asphalt surface bordered by scrubby second-growth 

woods, and an unscreened service (maintenance) area located just inside the 

cemetery gates. 

The cemetery entrance and approach also lack adequate signage. At Vaughan 

Road, Poplar Grove is identified by a small standard park service sign that does 

not denote the historic solemnity and formality of the cemetery. The presence of 

a group of private mailboxes on the opposite side of the approach road detracts 

from the federal identity of the cemetery and its connection to the approach 

road. As visitors proceed on the approach road, there are small directional signs, 

but none that provide a sense of arrival once visitors reach the parking lot. At the 

cemetery gates, there are no signs identifying the cemetery by name or directing 

visitors toward the information signs at the flagstaff. Two iron plaques that read 

“U.S. National Cemetery” are affixed to the cemetery gates, but these do not 

identify the cemetery by name. 

Cemetery Setting and Approach Road

Many of the national cemeteries in the Richmond region are losing their historic 

rural settings due to suburban development. While Poplar Grove retains much of 

its rural setting, it is surrounded by privately owned land that could be developed, 

and most of the approach road consists of only a federal right-of-way over private 

property. Aside from the National Park Foundation-owned Odom Tract adjoining 

the west side of the cemetery that is managed as park land, private property 

boundaries are as close as five feet away from the inclosure wall. The preferred 

alternative (D) of the General Management Plan recommends acquisition of land 

surrounding Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 

Specimen Trees in Burial Grounds

Specimen trees were historically an important part of national cemetery 

landscapes. At Richmond-area national cemeteries, however, the National 

Cemetery Administration at present does not consider trees beneficial within 

the burial grounds. While it retains mature specimens, the National Cemetery 

Administration does not replace trees when they are lost, except when they are 

outside of the burial grounds.19 Aside from maintenance concerns, grave markers 

can be heaved by tree roots and trunks, and roots can potentially disturb graves, 

although this is not well documented. The impact of tree roots on graves and 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

216

grave markers varies depending on the root characteristics of the tree species. 

While there are drawbacks, specimen trees were historically character-defining 

features of national cemetery landscapes. 

Landscape Interpretation

The park service is presently planning to improve interpretation at Poplar 

Grove by making available a podcast to visitors. At present, however, historical 

interpretation is provided verbally by a park ranger, but the cemetery is only 

staffed part time. When not staffed, visitors leave with a limited understanding of 

the cemetery’s history and significance. Existing interpretative devices are limited 

to a faded sign at the flagstaff installed in c.1957; the sign contains an illustration 

of Poplar Grove Church and a brief narrative on the history of Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery during its initial reburial phase through 1869. This narrative is 

also available in a printed brochure available in a holder. There is no interpretation 

of the landscape, or of Poplar Grove’s relationship to the National Cemetery 

System. Aside from the faded signs, only the Gettysburg Address plaque, located 

on the front wall of the lodge, remains to commemorate the cemetery’s historic 

association with the Civil War. Iron tablets that were historically found throughout 

the cemetery for interpretation, visitor information, and inspiration have been 

removed, but remain in storage in the cemetery garage.

For many visitors, the Camp of the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers and its 

namesake for the cemetery, Poplar Grove Church, is a fascinating story. While 

there are no physical remnants of the camp structures, the landscape still conveys 

its connection through the cemetery plan that is centered on the camp parade 

grounds. The loblolly pines that surrounded the camp were retained in the 

development of the cemetery and remained prominent into the twentieth century. 

Today, however, only four of the trees remain to provide a living connection to the 

Civil War period (fig. 4.4). 

Figure 4.4: Photographs of the engineers’ camp in 1865 and the cemetery in 1932 showing the same loblolly pines 

sixty-six years later. The few loblolly pines that remain today are a living connection to these landscapes. (Details of 

photographs from Library of Congress and National Archives in figs. 1.17 and 1.65.) 
217 

Treatment guidelines and tasks

The following treatment guidelines and tasks are organized by the five landscape 

character areas described in chapter 2 (Existing Conditions): cemetery setting and 

approach, cemetery inclosure, service yard, lodge grounds, and burial grounds. 

Each character area begins with an overview of pertinent treatment issues, and 

then describes individual treatment tasks listed by a code using the character-area 

abbreviation (CSA, CI, SY, LG, and BG), and ordered by priority and sequence 

for implementation. Each task contains a list of the affected landscape features 

as inventoried in chapter 3 (Analysis and Evaluation). Preservation is the default 

treatment where historic landscape features have no specific tasks identified. 

Treatment tasks are keyed to a treatment plan (Drawing 4.1) and three detail 

plans: cemetery setting and approach (Drawing 4.2), entrance field and parking 

lot (Drawing 4.3), and lodge grounds (Drawing 4.5); and are further illustrated in 

figures 4.5 through 4.21. A summary list of tasks and list of recommended plant 

materials are at the end of this chapter in tables 4.1 and 4.2.

Cemetery setting and approach (CSA)

Overview

Overall treatment objectives for the setting and approach to Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery (including the existing National Park Foundation-owned 

Odom tract) are to retain and enhance the historic rural surroundings, and to 

reestablish the ceremonial and solemn character of the cemetery approach.20

While still largely rural, the setting of the cemetery has been changed through 

suburban development and natural succession from fields to woods. 

As mentioned under treatment issues, the federal government does not presently 

own the land surrounding the cemetery. The approach road is under private 

ownership with a government right-of-way for access to the cemetery from 

Vaughan Road.21 To ensure long-term preservation of the historic setting and 

approach to the cemetery given the lack of a local preservation or conservation 

ordinance, it is strongly recommended that the land acquisition proposal 

under the preferred alternative (D) of the General Management Plan (2004) be 

implemented, including the need to expand the acquisition boundaries of the 

park (the boundaries currently correspond with the existing cemetery land in 

federal ownership). The General Management Plan calls for federal acquisition 

of all but one tract surrounding Poplar Grove as part of the Battlefield Protection 

Zone (fig. 4.5).22 If federal acquisition of these properties in fee is not feasible, it 

is recommended that other means of protection be pursued such as acquisition 

of development rights and easements, or legal agreements with the property 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

218

owners to permit the National Park Service to carry out the recommended 

treatment tasks. 

Among the parcels identified for acquisition, the highest priority for protection 

of the cemetery’s setting should be the northwest, southwest, entrance, and 

southeast fields of the R. Taylor farm, encompassing approximately twenty acres 

of the thirty-eight acre farm (see fig. 4.5). Acquisition of this land would place 

most of the approach road in federal ownership, along with the flanking fields that 

are critical to the rural setting of the approach. The Blaha property (three acres) 

along the private drive between the northwest field and the Odom tract should 

also be acquired as a first priority. The second priority for protection is the field at 

the head of the approach road (part of the thirty-four acre Harrison property) and 

the wooded land along the southeast side of the cemetery (Richardson property, 

eleven acres). This eleven-acre parcel was not identified for acquisition in the 

General Management Plan, but the wooded northern part should be protected 

from development to a minimum of approximately 200 feet from the inclosure 

wall. The park should also secure development rights for the property adjoining 

the cemetery along the north and west sides to protect it from inappropriate 

development. This land is presently owned by the Blaha and Peterson families and 

includes two houses and an access drive.

The fields adjoining Poplar Grove should be kept in traditional agricultural use 

to retain the historic character of the cemetery setting. Appropriate agricultural 

uses include cultivated crops and pasture. Introduction of new agricultural uses 

Figure 4.5: Alternative D 

lands for protection, General 

Management Plan for Petersburg 

National Battlefield (2004), 

showing lands required for 

protection of the cemetery 

setting. Ownership is shown as 

of 2008. (National Park Service, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)
219 

that differ in appearance, sound, or smell from existing and historic uses should 

be compatible with the cemetery setting. If agricultural uses cannot be continued, 

the fields should be kept as meadow to retain the historic spatial character of the 

landscape. The limits of the fields may require modification to screen modern 

development, such as along the west side of Vaughan Road.

CSA Task 1: Install New Entrance Signs (Drawing 4.2)

	 Small-Scale Features: Vaughan Road Entrance Sign (non-contributing)

Install new entrance signs to enhance the identity of the cemetery and better 

reflect its historic solemnity. Replace the existing standard park service sign at 

Vaughan Road with a new sign in the same location, and install a second sign on 

the south side of the approach road near the cemetery gates to supplement the 

non-historic plaques that state “U.S. National Cemetery” without identifying 

the cemetery by name. Since there is no historic documentation on historic 

signs, the new signs should employ a 

contemporary, compatible design using 

a rectangular board, simple symmetrical 

layout, and an upper case font. Design 

the Vaughan Road entrance sign as the 

primary (larger) sign, and the one near 

the entrance gates as a secondary, more 

subtle sign in deference to gates (fig. 

4.6). Remove the non-historic stone ring 

and planting bed around the Vaughan 

Road sign and maintain the foreground 

as lawn. 

CSA Task 2: Clear West Woods and Reestablish Approach View of Cemetery 

(Drawing 4.2)

	 Natural Systems and Features: West Woods (non-contributing)

	 Spatial Organization: Northwest Field (contributing/setting)

The approach road to Poplar Grove National Cemetery historically featured a 

view of the cemetery with the flagstaff rising above the tree canopy, looking east 

across the northwest field toward the brick inclosure wall. A similar view remains 

at Glendale National Cemetery near Richmond (fig. 4.7). To reestablish the view 

and field along the west side of the cemetery, clear the non-historic successional 

west woods on the Odom tract. Eastern red-cedar trees along the edge of the 

woods along the inclosure wall, planted by the National Park Service in 1937, 

may be retained if they are in good condition. Maintain the cleared area, which 

has partly an uneven topography, as cultivated field and/or meadow. Preserve the 

northwest field (R. Taylor farm) as an open field through acquisition or easement. 

Treatment

Figure 4.6: Suggested designs 

for signs at Vaughan Road and 

at the entrance gate (not to 

scale). (SUNY ESF.) 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

220

Reestablishing the approach view will also require removal of the existing trees 

along the approach road (see CSA Task 5). The restored view would be through 

the replanted allee of trees along the approach road. 

If the northwest field cannot be preserved and is threatened by development, 

remove only the east half of the west woods to reestablish the open setting along 

the west side of the cemetery. Leave the west half of the west woods to screen 

the development. Reestablishment of the view upon the approach would not be 

feasible in this scenario. 

CSA Task 3: Clear Triangular Woodlot and Screen Vaughan Road (Drawing 4.2)

	 Natural Systems and Features: Triangular Woodlot (non-contributing/

setting))

	 Spatial Organization: Southwest Field (contributing/setting)

To restore the historic limits of the southwest field (R. Taylor Farm) and screen 

modern suburban development looking west along the approach road, clear the 

triangular woodlot and establish a hedgerow along Vaughan Road. A portion 

of the woodlot may be retained as part of the hedgerow. The hedgerow should 

consist of native trees and understory similar to the hedgerow along the north 

side of the northwest field. Maintain the cleared woodlot as part of the southwest 

field, either as cultivated land or as meadow. Returning this woodlot to field will 

also return the historic open setting of the approach road and provide space for 

reestablishing the approach road allee (CSA Task 5). The hedgerow along Vaughan 

row should allow space for reestablishment of the approach road allee and end 

approximately twenty-five feet from the allee. This treatment task assumes the 

southwest field will be preserved through acquisition or easement. The west 

Figure 4.7: View upon the approach 

to Glendale National Cemetery 

showing the rural setting and view 

of the cemetery flagstaff rising 

above the tree canopy, a landscape 

similar to what existed historically 

at Poplar Grove. The field extends 

to the cemetery inclosure wall, 

which is not visible in this 

photograph. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
221 

side of Vaughan Road warrants screening because it presently contains several 

suburban houses and land that could be further subdivided and developed. 

CSA Task 4: Redesign Odom Cemetery Inclosure (Drawing 4.3)

	 Spatial Organization: Odom Cemetery (non-contributing)

	 Small-Scale Features: Odom Cemetery fence (non-contributing)

Shift the northern side of Odom cemetery chain-link fence approximately ten feet 

from the approach road to provide space for replanting the approach road allee 

(CSA Task 5). The gate into the cemetery should be shifted to avoid opening onto 

or near the gravesites. Plant a hedge of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) around the 

exterior of the fence to enhance the private nature of this family plot and screen 

it from the proposed relocation of the parking lot to the south (CSA Task 8). 

Boxwood is deer resistant and was used historically at Poplar Grove. Maintain the 

hedge at approximately five feet in height and clip it with a slightly battered profile. 

Although the Odom cemetery was never legally transferred to federal ownership, 

the National Park Service agreed in 1990 to maintain it as part of the donation to 

the National Park Foundation. This task should be undertaken in consultation 

with the Odom family.

CSA Task 5: Replant Approach Road Allee (Drawing 4.2)

	 Vegetation: Approach road trees (non-contributing)

	 Natural Systems and Features: West Woods (non-contributing), 

Triangular Woodlot (non-contributing/setting), Southwest Field 

Hedgerow (non-contributing/setting), Northwest Field Hedgerow 

(contributing/setting)

Replant the formal allee of deciduous trees along the entire length of the approach 

road from Vaughan Road to the cemetery gates. The historic twenty-five foot 

spacing of the trees shown on the 1931 War Department planting plan was 

apparently intended to provide a dense canopy and a clear military-like cadence 

to the approach. This close spacing, however, may have been a factor in the 

decline of the allee by the mid-twentieth century. For replanting, increase the 

spacing to thirty-five feet on center, with each pair of trees aligned perpendicular 

to the centerline. This wider spacing will retain the historic rhythm of the allee 

while providing additional growing space and allowing for the approach view 

of the cemetery (see CSA Task 2). The twenty-five foot spacing across the width 

of the road will allow for four-foot turf shoulders to either side of the twelvefoot wide pavement, plus an additional five feet to the tree trunks. Maintain the 

understory of the allee as mown lawn to a width of approximately thirty feet to 

either side of the road centerline. 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

222

Plant the allee with the following species in an even distribution through the allee: 

red maple (Acer rubrum), tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), hackberry (Celtis 

occidentalis), American linden (Tilia americana), and a viable cultivar of American 

elm (Ulmus americana).23 Hackberry is recommended as a replacement for 

white ash (Fraxinus americana) used historically within the allee. Ash species are 

presently threatened by ash yellows, a disease that is presently uncontrollable, and 

by the recent introduction of Emerald Ash Borer, an exotic beetle that kills ash 

trees.24 In keeping with the 1931 War Department plan, plant Norway spruce at 

the terminus of the allee to either side of the cemetery gates, spaced approximately 

twenty feet from the road centerline so that at maturity the branches will not 

obstruct the cemetery gates. 

In preparation for replanting of the allee, remove all existing trees along the 

approach road including the approximately fourteen remnant historic allee 

trees, which are generally in poor condition.25 Clear adjoining woods that 

extend into the location of the allee, including the west woods (CSA Task 2), 

triangular woodlot (CSA Task 3), and portions of the north hedgerow (north side 

of northwest field) and southwest field hedgerow (east side of southwest field 

adjoining Odom cemetery). 

CSA Task 6: Resurface Approach Road (Drawing 4.2)

	 Circulation: Approach Road (contributing)

Return the approach road to its historic asphalt surface to give it more defined 

and well-maintained character. The 1931 specifications prepared by the Third 

Corps Area of the Quartermaster General were for a four-inch-stone base and 

two-inch emulsified asphalt penetrating wearing surface. As shown on a 1939 

photograph of the main drive that was resurfaced at the same time (see fig. 1.68), 

this asphalt weathered to a gray color, and featured no curbs or other edging. The 

road was specified for a twelve-foot width; this remains the approximate existing 

width, except for the widened strip between the parking lot and gates. Return this 

widened strip to twelve feet and taper out to align with the inside edge of the outer 

(pedestrian) granite piers. The pavement should have straight, well-defined edges 

for a well-kept appearance. Maintain the shoulders as stabilized turf that can 

accommodate limited traffic. The 1931 work specified twelve-inch earthen (grasscovered) shoulders. Expand these to four feet for an overall width of twenty feet 

(twelve-foot pavement and four-foot shoulders on each side) sufficient to allow 

two oversized vehicles to pass.

Resurfacing of the approach road should be coordinated with resurfacing of the 

main drive within the cemetery (BS Task 4), reestablishment of the approach road 

allee (CSA Task 5), and relocation of the visitor parking lot (CSA Task 8). The 

approach road and main drive should have the same asphalt surface. 
223 

CSA Task 7: Remove South Hedgerow (Drawings 4.1, 4.2)

	 Natural Systems and Features: South Hedgerow (non-contributing)

	 Vegetation: Inclosure Red-cedar trees (non-contributing)

	 Small-Scale Features: Barbed-Wire Fence (non-contributing)

Provided the adjoining south pasture (R. Taylor farm) is protected from 

development, clear the non-historic successional woods bordering the cemetery 

south inclosure to return the historic open spatial character and provide a more 

well kept appearance. Maintain the cleared ground as part of the adjoining 

pasture. Red-cedar trees along the edge of the woods along the inclosure wall, 

planted by the National Park Service in 1937, may be retained if they are in good 

condition. Remove the existing remnants of the barbed-wire fence installed along 

with the red-cedar trees in 1937. If additional livestock fencing is required, it 

should not be visible from within the cemetery (the existing electrified wire fence 

is appropriate). 

CSA Task 8: Relocate Visitor Parking Lot (Drawing 4.3)

	 Circulation: Visitor Parking Lot (non-contributing), Approach Road 

(contributing)

	 Natural Systems and Features: West Woods (non-contributing)

	 Spatial Organization: Entrance Field (contributing)

	 Vegetation: Approach Road Trees (non-contributing)

Relocate the visitor parking lot, built in c.1995, to make it less conspicuous 

and to enhance the rural setting and formality of the cemetery approach. The 

preferred treatment is to move the parking lot south to the approximate site 

of a fenced corral on the R. Taylor farm within the entrance field alongside an 

existing hedgerow. This land is proposed for federal acquisition in the General 

Management Plan. 

Under this concept, the parking lot would be an inconspicuous addition to 

the rural landscape without major vertical elements and lighting. This location 

would set the parking lot back from the approach road by approximately eighty 

feet across an open meadow. The parking lot would be screened by the existing 

hedgerow to the west and be outside of approach road view of the cemetery and 

vista of the cemetery gates. Planting of shrubs along the north, east, and south 

sides would further screen the lot. The surface should be distinguishable from the 

asphalt of the approach road. Vehicles would enter the lot along a one-way drive 

near the main gate so that visitors could experience the historic approach, and 

then exit to the west at a separate access point. A pedestrian walk would provide 

access to the cemetery entrance gates. The concept on drawing 4.3 shows a lot for 

twenty cars and two buses. 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

224

Relocation of the parking lot to the entrance field and R. Taylor farm corral 

is dependent on availability of space for a new septic field associated with the 

public restroom building within the cemetery. Positioning the parking lot along 

the hedgerow on the west side of the entrance field would leave an open area of 

approximately 11,500 square feet. Additional space for a septic field may also be 

available in the southeast field due south of the restroom building.26

CSA Task 9: Relocate Private Drive (Drawing 4.2)

	 Circulation: Private Drive (non-contributing), Approach Road 

(contributing)

	 Spatial Organization: Northwest Field (contributing/setting)

To enhance the cemetery setting and approach road, work with private property 

owners (Blaha) to relocate the section of the private drive through the northwest 

field. The preferred alternative is to relocate the drive through the Harrison 

property that is proposed for park acquisition in the General Management Plan 

(see fig. 4.5). The drive would either intersect the existing drive on the Harrison 

property (along the north boundary) or follow a new alignment to Vaughan Road. 

Relocation of the drive to this property would remove it from the approach road, 

which would serve solely as access to the national cemetery. 

If acquisition of the Harrison property is not possible, reroute the private drive 

along the hedgerow on the north side of the northwest field (R. Taylor farm). 

The private drive would turn south at the west end of the hedgerow and use the 

approach road entrance off Vaughan Road. Locate the private drive intersection 

on the approach road approximately 125 feet east of Vaughan Road to make 

the drive less conspicuous and avoid a three-way intersection at the head of the 

approach road. 

As part of the relocation of the private drive, remove the private mailboxes from 

the approach road at Vaughan Road to the head of the relocated private drive. The 

existence of these mailboxes does not befit the historic ceremonial character of 

the approach road. 

Cemetery inclosure (CI)

Overall treatment objectives for this treatment area, which encompasses a narrow 

strip of land around the perimeter of the cemetery including the brick inclosure 

wall and adjoining woods, is to preserve the serenity and sacredness of the 

burial grounds and enhance the historic spatial character of the cemetery. Along 

the west and part of the south sides of the inclosure, the space will be opened 

through removal of the west woods (CSA Task 2) and south hedgerow (CSA 

Task 7). Treatment of the inclosure also addresses the need to maintain access 
225 

to the inclosure wall, and to improve drainage through it. Although the wall was 

historically covered in English ivy, reintroduction of this vine is not recommended 

due to potential damage it could cause to the masonry. If the park acquires 

adjoining private property, the stone boundary markers in the inclosure area at the 

corners of the current federal property should be retained. 

CI Task 1: Improve Drainage Through Inclosure Wall (Drawing 4.1)

	 Buildings and Structures: Drainage Ditch (non-contributing)

	 Buildings and Structures: Inclosure Wall and Entrance Gate 

(contributing)

Modify inadequate drainage openings in the inclosure wall where necessary 

to improve drainage of the burial grounds. There are two areas where standing 

water occurs: one in Division A along the south side of the wall and a second 

in Division D at the northwest corner of the cemetery (cemetery low point). 27

Once positive drainage is achieved through adjusting the grade within the burial 

grounds (see BG Task 1), assess the function of the drainage openings. All but one 

of the openings feed into brick-and-concrete lined boxes that appear to have no 

outlet. Modification of these boxes would not impact the historic character of the 

landscape. The opening at the low point in Division D feeds into a concrete-lined 

ditch that extends north onto private property. Construction of the private drive 

and culvert over the ditch in c.1972, and subsequent alteration of the grade on its 

north side, may be impeding proper drainage. Improvements to this drainage ditch 

would require coordination with the private property owner. 

CI Task 2: Enhance North and East Woods (Drawing 4.1)

	 Natural Systems and Features: North Woods (contributing), East Woods 

(contributing)

	 Spatial Organization: Cemetery Inclosure Space (contributing)

Plant trees and understory shrubs, or encourage natural succession, in the east 

and north woods to enhance the wooded setting and improve screening of the 

non-historic Blaha and Peterson houses and private drive. To ensure adequate 

planting, the park should work with the private property owners to plant on their 

property. Plant the vegetation to an approximate depth of forty feet from the 

cemetery inclosure wall, corresponding with the south side of the Blaha-Peterson 

access drive and along the east side of the cemetery where there is presently 

lawn. If growing conditions permit, loblolly pine would be the most historically 

appropriate trees to be planted in these woods. A five- to ten-foot clear zone 

should be maintained immediately along the inclosure wall to allow access for 

maintenance purposes (see CI Task 3). Keep the woods visible from the cemetery 

free of dead trees, broken limbs, and other debris in order to maintain a well-kept 

appearance. 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

226

CI Task 3: Maintain Mown Corridor Along Inclosure Wall (Drawing 4.1)

	 Natural Systems and Features: North Woods (contributing), East Woods 

(contributing)

	 Spatial Organization: Cemetery Inclosure Space (contributing)

	 Vegetation: Inclosure Ivy Groundcover (non-contributing)

Establish a mown corridor along the outside of the inclosure wall to enhance 

the well-kept character of the cemetery, provide access to the wall, and prevent 

encroachment of vegetation. Along the west and part of the south sides that were 

open field historically, the corridor should be approximately ten-feet wide; along 

the wooded areas on the north, east, and part of the south sides, the corridor may 

need to be narrower to avoid removal of mature trees that are screening modern 

development. Keep the existing naturalized English ivy out of the corridor to 

prevent it from growing on the inclosure wall and damaging the masonry. It would 

also be appropriate to eradicate the English ivy, which is considered invasive in 

many areas when it reaches its mature (fruiting) stage. 

Service yard (SY)

Overall treatment objectives for this area, which encompasses a rectangular 

section within the inclosure wall surrounding the garage, are to restore the 

dignity and sacred character of the cemetery landscape by screening service 

activities, and to reconstruct lost historic features extant in c.1933. Due to a 

lack of documentation, reconstruction of the well house that existed in c.1933 

is not recommended. The service yard is intended to remain as the functioning 

maintenance area for the cemetery. The main drive, benches, and tablets adjoining 

are addressed under the Burial Grounds treatment area. 

SY Task 1: Reconfigure Service Drive (Drawing 4.1)

	 Circulation: Service Drive (contributing)

Restore the historic boundaries of the service drive that included a narrow 

entrance off the main drive. Shift the western edge of the pavement approximately 

five feet east to protect the historic magnolia and establish an eight-foot wide 

entrance drive, sufficient to accommodate modern maintenance vehicles. Pull the 

remaining pavement back from the main drive. Reconfiguration of the service 

drive is needed to allow for reestablishment of the service yard hedge (SY Task 2). 

Surface the drive in gravel or an asphalt chip seal that has the character of gravel 

to distinguish it from the main drive asphalt. The service drive was not paved in 

asphalt during the historic period. 
227 

SY Task 2: Reestablish Service Yard Hedge (Drawing 4.1)

	 Spatial Organization: Service Yard (contributing)

	 Vegetation: Service Yard Hedge (non-existing historic feature)

Plant an arborvitae hedge in the location of the historic hedge (removed in 

c.1974), but shift the location to accommodate the service drive entrance as 

reconfigured under SY Task 1. While the hedge was eight feet high by the end of 

the historic period, this was most likely not the desired height. Maintain the hedge 

at approximately four feet in height (corresponding to the height of the inclosure 

wall), with a slightly battered rectangular profile. Reestablishment of this hedge 

will define the historic enclosure of the service yard and screen service activities 

while still allowing the garage to be visible. 

The service yard hedge was historically Oriental arborvitae (Thuja orientalis, 

recently reclassified as Platycladus orientalis), a less hardy but more drought 

tolerant shrub than American arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis). Oriental arborvitae 

is distinguished by its ascending, flat vertical branches. The variety used in the 

hedge is not known, but it was probably a dark green, upright variety such as 

‘pyramidalis.’28 In planting the hedge, care should be taken not to damage the 

roots of the aged magnolia at the southwest corner of the service drive. If damage 

to the roots cannot be avoided, the section of the hedge extending out along the 

entrance of the service drive should not be replanted until the aged magnolia is 

replaced (see SY Task 3). Both tasks should then be accomplished concurrently. 

Monitor the hedge for possible infestation by arborvitae leafminer.

SY Task 3: Plant Specimen Trees (Drawing 4.1)

	 Vegetation: Specimen Trees (contributing)

Plant a red maple (Acer rubrum) at the northwest corner of the service yard and a 

southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) as a companion to the existing historic 

magnolia to flank the reconfigured service drive entrance (see SY Task 1). Prolong 

the life of the historic magnolia by prohibiting parking beneath its canopy to 

alleviate soil compaction. Both magnolias should have at least five feet of open 

ground between the trunk and the pavement of the service drive. If the aged 

magnolia is in decline when planting occurs, it should be removed and replaced 

in-kind. 

SY Task 4: Return Garage to Historic Appearance (Drawing 4.1)

	 Buildings and Structures: Garage (contributing)

Return the garage to its historic appearance by removing the non-historic exterior 

steel stairs and rear frame shed addition. Both additions will become more 

conspicuous with the removal of the west woods (CSA Task 2). For the garage 

attic to remain usable storage space, removal of the exterior stairs will require 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

228

either replacement with a functional pulley system or addition of an interior 

staircase. Determine the historic paint scheme, which should match that of the 

lodge and public restroom building. The 1931 National Cemetery regulations 

call for tin roofs to be painted red, trim white, and doors bronze-green.29 Paint 

analysis should be undertaken on original components to determine if they were 

historically painted according to the regulations, and to ascertain a color match for 

repainting. The east garage door is a non-historic addition. If it is not necessary, it 

would be appropriate to remove it and return to the original configuration, which 

may have been either a blank wall or a six-over-six double-hung sash window 

matching that on the west side of the front façade. 

Lodge grounds (LG)

Overall treatment objectives for the lodge grounds are to beautify the landscape, 

reinforce its historic use as an assembly area, enhance public accessibility to the 

lodge and public restroom building, provide visitor orientation, and reconstruct 

lost features that existed during the treatment date. Due largely to the lack of 

visitor orientation and plantings, the lodge grounds do not provide a welcoming 

entrance to the cemetery or a comfortable assembly area. 

The lodge grounds historically were dominated by a circular turn-around off of 

which branched a walk extending along the inclosure wall. For much of its history, 

this turn-around was surfaced in turf and edged by shrubs and a low border or 

hedge. By the late 1920s, the turn-around was probably no longer in use, but its 

form may have still been evident in the landscape through remnant plantings. With 

construction of the public restroom building in 1929, portions of the turn-around 

were probably removed for construction of a septic system. Although it was an 

important part of the lodge grounds for most of the historic period, restoration 

of the turn-around as a circulation feature is not being recommended because 

of the limited documentation and because it probably consisted only of remnant 

plantings by the treatment date (1933). 

LG Task 1: Construct New Walk to Public Restroom Building (Drawing 4.4)

	 Circulation: Restroom Path (non-contributing), Restroom Walks 

(contributing)

Construct a walk along the west side of the lodge to provide a new route to the 

public restroom building in place of the existing non-historic dirt path along the 

east side of the building. The proposed walk follows the general alignment of a 

walk that is shown on the 1892 Quartermaster General plan of the cemetery (see 

fig. 1.51). Locating the walk on this side of the lodge will avoid introduction of a 

new circulation feature within the assembly area. The new walk is proposed to 

tie into the existing historic concrete walk along the north side of the restroom 
229 

building. Build the new walk in concrete with a visible aggregate and scoring that 

distinguishes it from the historic concrete walk. Avoid impacts to the non-historic 

magnolia near the main gate, if possible. The walk should be universally accessible 

at four-feet wide to accommodate one wheelchair and pedestrian. Remove the 

existing restroom path on the east side of the lodge, and return the grade to its 

historic level. Grade to create a swale that directs water from the lodge downspout 

to the opening in the inclosure wall, avoiding proposed plantings (see LG Task 4). 

In place of a swale, use of subsurface drainage also would be compatible with the 

historic character of the landscape. 

LG Task 2: Install New Cemetery Information Wayside (Drawing 4.4)

	 Small-Scale Features: Grave Locator-Interpretive Signs (noncontributing); Iron Tablets (non-existing historic feature/in storage)

Install a cemetery information wayside at the entrance to the cemetery to replace 

the existing non-historic aluminum-frame signs that flank the central flagstaff. 

Historically, there was an iron tablet on the east side of the lodge that welcomed 

visitors to register (tablet “P” on Drawing 4.1). This location, adjoining the 

entrance to the lodge (proposed to become the visitor contact station) and before 

visitors enter the assembly area or burial grounds, would be the most appropriate 

location for the new wayside. If additional information or interpretive signs are 

necessary, they should be located outside of the cemetery, such as near the visitor 

parking lot.

Design the new wayside in a manner that recedes in the landscape 

and reflects the historic precedent of cast-metal signs (tablets). 

An appropriate model is the wayside at the National Park Serviceadministered Antietam National Cemetery (fig. 4.8). This sign 

relates to the historic style of signs at national cemeteries through 

its use of cast metal with raised letters, but is distinguished by 

a different finish. The Poplar Grove wayside should include a 

graphic plan of the cemetery and a brief account of its history and 

significance, as well as operational information if necessary. The 

burial register, currently displayed on the aluminum-frame signs at the flagstaff, 

would be more appropriately displayed in book form at the wayside (as is done 

at many national cemeteries) to reduce the scale of the wayside. Alternatively, 

the register could be available inside the lodge or on the lodge porch. The grave 

locator system is recommended for revision in Burial Grounds Task 3. 

LG Task 3: Remove Privacy Fence and Plant Boxwood Hedge (Drawing 4.4)

	 Spatial Organization: Lodge Grounds (contributing)

	 Small-Scale Features: Wood Privacy Fence (non-contributing)

Treatment

Figure 4.8: Example of an 

appropriate style for a new 

sign that would be part of an 

information wayside within 

the lodge grounds. (National 

Park Service, Antietam National 

Cemetery website.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

230

Remove the existing non-historic wood privacy fence to restore the historic spatial 

character of the lodge grounds. This fence extends from the rear of the lodge to 

the restroom (utility) building, and from the rear of the restroom building to the 

inclosure wall. It is not needed because the lodge is no longer a private residence. 

In place of the fence at the lodge, plant a boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) hedge 

extending approximately twenty feet off the southeast corner to screen the rear 

service area of the lodge from the adjoining assembly area. A grape arbor existed 

in this location during the historic period, but no documentation was found on its 

appearance. 

LG Task 4: Establish New Plantings in Lodge Grounds (Drawing 4.4)

	 Spatial Organization: Lodge Grounds (contributing)

	 Vegetation: Specimen Trees (contributing), Specimen Shrubs 

(contributing)

Establish new plantings in the lodge grounds to improve the aesthetic character 

of the landscape as a point of entry for the cemetery, and to maintain and 

enhance the use of the grounds as an assembly area focused on the rostrum.

The recommended plantings for this area provide a contemporary scheme that 

evokes the circular organization of the turn-around that was built in c.1872 and 

disappeared toward the end of War Department period. As shown on Drawing 

4.4, this planting scheme places deciduous shade trees in a circular pattern that 

defines an open lawn assembly area facing the rostrum. The selected trees reflect 

historic species found in the approach road allee and the lodge grounds, including 

linden (Tilia americana), tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), and a viable cultivar 

of American elm (Ulmus americana). These trees can be maintained upon 

maturity with a high canopy that will not interfere with lines of sight from the 

assembly area to the rostrum. The circle of trees is enhanced with shrubs of crape 

myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) and boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), supplementing 

those that exist at present. 

In addition to the circle of trees, old-fashioned varieties of fruit trees (Prunus 

americana and Pyrus sp.) are recommended along the inclosure wall based on the 

1892 Quartermaster General plan to return ornament and springtime color to the 

landscape. Plum and pear trees were purportedly first planted in the cemetery 

by the burial corps in the late 1860s. Use of sterile (non-fruiting) varieties would 

be appropriate to reduce maintenance, but avoid use of modern cultivars such as 

Bradford pear. A small flowerbed is recommended next to the lodge to add visual 

interest and provide a welcoming atmosphere for visitors. Plant the bed with shrub 

roses and peonies (documented in 1931), plus low-scale old-fashioned annuals 

such as wax begonias, geranium (Pelargonium), and marigolds. Refer to Table 4.2 

for additional information on recommended plants. 
231 

LG Task 5: Replant Maltese Cross Hedge (Drawing 4.4)

	 Vegetation: Maltese Cross Hedge (non-existing historic feature)

Replant a boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) hedge in the outline of a Maltese 

cross (5th Corps badge) in front of the lodge. This hedge, which was removed in 

c.1985, occupied the present lawn strip between the lodge and the main drive, 

with approximate overall dimensions of ten feet square. As shown in a 1968 

photograph (see fig. 1.75), each section of the hedge was clipped in a rectangular 

profile, approximately thirty inches high by eighteen inches wide. Maintain the 

ground surrounding the hedge as lawn, and mulch the understory of the hedge 

with natural, dark mulch. 

LG Task 6: Return Public Restroom Building to Historic Appearance (Drawing 4.4)

	 Buildings and Structures: Public Restroom Building (contributing)

Return the public restroom building to its historic appearance by restoring the 

exterior color scheme. As with its sister building, the garage, the stucco walls of 

the public restroom building were most likely originally unpainted to complement 

the stone walls and stucco kitchen wing of the lodge. The trim and roof of the 

building should also match the color of the roofs on the lodge and garage. The 

1931 National Cemetery regulations called for tin roofs to be painted red, trim 

white, and doors bronze-green.30 Paint analysis should be undertaken on original 

components to determine if they were historically painted according to the 

regulations, and to ascertain a color match for repainting. 

The existing use of the building as public restrooms should be maintained as part 

of planned rehabilitation of the lodge into a visitor contact station. While access to 

the building is on level ground, the restrooms do not meet universal accessibility 

standards primarily due to width of the doors. When the restrooms are 

rehabilitated, priority should be given to maintaining existing door and window 

openings, and expanding the space within the building (making use of fuel and 

motor rooms), rather than constructing an addition. If an addition is necessary, 

it would be appropriate to extend off the rear west corner, where the addition 

would be least visible from the assembly area of the lodge grounds. Further study 

is needed for this and other architectural issues.

LG Task7: Return Lodge to Historic Appearance (Drawing 4.4)

	 Buildings and Structures: Lodge (contributing)

As part of the planned rehabilitation into a visitor contact station, return the 

lodge to its historic appearance at the end of the War Department period (1933). 

Returning the building to its original 1872 appearance, which would require 

restoration of the slate roof, wood porch floor, and darkly painted trim, as well 

as removal of the 1914 kitchen wing, would not be appropriate in the broader 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

232

treatment of the landscape reflecting development through the War Department 

period. Returning the building to its original appearance would also change the 

visual connection with the public restroom building (1929) and garage (1929) 

created by use of the same metal roofs and painting scheme. 

While little has changed since c.1933, the historic character of the building would 

be enhanced through removal of aluminum triple-track storm windows and 

window air-conditioning units, and returning the paint color scheme to match 

that of the public restroom building and garage. The 1931 National Cemetery 

regulations called for tin roofs to be painted red, trim white, doors bronze 

green, porch ceiling light blue, and borders and letters of the Lincoln Memorial 

tablet (on the front of the buildings) copper-bronze. Paint analysis should be 

undertaken on historic (1933) components to determine if they were historically 

painted according to the regulations, and to ascertain a color match for repainting. 

The stucco on the kitchen wing was most likely unpainted to complement the 

stone on the original building. Rehabilitation will require that the building be 

accessible. It appears the front porch can be made accessible by raising the grade 

of the concrete pad to serve as a ramp. Further study is needed for this and other 

architectural issues. The park is anticipating completion of a historic structure 

report prior to designing the planned rehabilitation. 

LG Task 8: Return Historic Color Scheme to Rostrum (Drawing 4.1)

	 Buildings and Structures: Rostrum (contributing)

Return the rostrum to its historic color scheme as part of the conservation of 

the entire structure. The 1931 National Cemetery Regulations specify that iron 

rostrums be painted black, the roof red (matching metal roofs on other buildings), 

and the underside of the roof light blue (matching the ceiling of the lodge porch). 

The entire iron superstructure and metal roof of the rostrum is presently painted 

black. Paint analysis should be undertaken on these components to determine if 

they were historically painted according to the regulations, and to ascertain a color 

match for repainting. As with the inclosure wall, the brick rostrum foundation 

was historically covered in ivy (probably English ivy); replanting of this vine is not 

recommended due to the potential for damage to the historic masonry.

burial grounds (BG)

Overall treatment objectives for this character area, which includes all of the 

cemetery within the inclosure wall except for the service yard and lodge grounds, 

are to reestablish the sacred and well-maintained character of the landscape; to 

provide legible and historically appropriate grave markers and a grave locator 

system; to return the central circle/flagstaff to its historic majesty; to enhance 

interpretation and visitor amenities; and to return lost trees and shrubs. Treatment 
233 

of the grave markers, the majority of which are recessed-shield headstones and 

unknown blocks that were transformed into flat markers in 1934, is the task most 

critical to the overall rehabilitation of the landscape. 

BG Task 1: Improve Cemetery Lawn (Drawing 4.1 )

	 Vegetation: Cemetery Lawn (contributing)

	 Circulation: Burial Grounds Drives and Walks (contributing)

Improve the cemetery lawn toward “Class A” level of maintenance characterized 

by uniformity of appearance, low tolerance for weeds, a vibrant green color, and 

absence of debris. Use grass species that are adapted to the geographic region, 

and mow on a regular basis to maintain a well-kept appearance. Grass should be 

kept neatly trimmed around all grave markers, trees, drives, and other objects, 

avoiding impacts from line trimmers and mowers. The lawn was not irrigated 

historically, and therefore would have gone into dormancy (turned brown) during 

dry summer months; natural seasonal changes in the appearance of the lawn is 

therefore appropriate from the standpoints of both historic character and natural 

resource conservation. 

As part of improving the health and appearance of the lawn, adjust the grade 

of sunken and low areas through addition of fill. Cutting should be avoided to 

protect the graves. Sunken areas detract from the historic uniformity of the lawn, 

and present a tripping hazard. There are two large low areas that collect standing 

water at the northwest corner in Division D, sections e and g (water often covers 

grave markers), and in Division A, between sections d and e. Raised the grade 

in these areas to create positive drainage toward the drainage openings in the 

inclosure wall (see CI Task 1). Correction of the grade should be undertaken prior 

to installation of new grave markers (BG Task 2). 

BG Task 2: Install New Grave Markers (Drawing 4.1)

	 Small-Scale Features: Grave Markers (non-contributing with some 

exceptions)

The general intent of this task is to return the grave markers (headstones and 

blocks) to their historic (1933) character consisting of upright marble headstones 

for known graves and blocks for unknown graves. Generally, graves will receive a 

new upright marker (headstone or block) appropriate to the veteran’s service and 

date of interment. This task is organized into three parts: Replacement Issues and 

Guidelines, Grave Marker Replacement, and Removal of Existing Grave Markers. 

A list of treatment alternatives considered for this task is in Appendix J. 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

234

Replacement Issues and Guidelines

Criteria for Replacement

National Park Service National Cemetery Regulations and Director’s Order 

#61, which defer to National Cemetery Administration policies pertaining 

to headstones and markers (VA Headstones and Markers manual), call for 

replacement of a previously furnished government headstone or marker at 

government (National Cemetery Administration) expense when it is:

1. Deteriorated or illegible, e.g., weatherworn to the extent it is no longer 

readable.

2. Cracked, broken, or destroyed due to natural causes.

3. Broken or damaged, cause unknown.

4. Inscription information is erroneous through no fault of the applicant.

5. Material or workmanship is not in accordance with the specifications.

6. Extenuating circumstances not covered above may warrant replacement in 

some cases. 31

Meeting criteria 1, 2, and 3 above generally translates into the headstones lacking 

historic integrity and therefore warranting in-kind replacement under National 

Park Service management policy and cultural resource management guidelines. 

Replacement Specifications

The National Cemetery Administration (Department of Veterans Affairs) 

presently has four grave marker styles that generally correspond to those found at 

Poplar Grove during the period of significance for the landscape (1866-1933):

	 Standard Government Headstones and Markers: World War I and later 

veterans. Upright headstone (equivalent to the General used at Poplar 

Grove 1922-c.1933): white marble, forty-two inches long, thirteen inches 

wide, four inches thick (fig. 4.9). 32 (Flat markers were used at Poplar Grove 

after 1933.)

	 Historical Styles: Civil War Union and Spanish-American War. White 

marble, cambered top, raised lettering inside a recessed shield; XA: twelve 

inches wide, three inches thick, forty-two inches long; XB: thirteen inches 

wide, three inches thick, forty-two inches long (fig. 4.10); and XC: ten 

inches wide, three inches thick, and thirty-nine inches long. 33 

	 Blocks (“6x6x30 unknowns”): Civil War Union unknown burials. The 

National Cemetery Administration does not presently have a contract for 

this type of marker, but they can be ordered off-contract by special request 

with inscriptions (fig 4.11).34 
235 

The Historical Styles (XA, XB, and XC) are 

similar to the recessed-shield headstones at 

Poplar Grove, but are not exact replicas. In 

dimensions, style XA is closest to the larger 

second-generation recessed-shield headstone, 

and style XC is closest to the first-generation. 

Both are three inches thick rather than the 

historic four inches. The thirty-nine inch 

length does not match the historic length of 

the first generation recessed-shield headstones, 

but they could be installed at the historic 

height of twelve to eighteen inches above 

grade. All three Historical Styles appear to use 

the larger font used on the second-generation 

recessed-shield headstones (the park’s style A), 

and do not include the grave number within 

the shield. The current standard headstone is 

similar to the General, but has a different font 

than was used historically. 

The National Cemetery Administration has 

indicated to the National Park Service that it 

can modify its replacement stone specifications to provide an exact match to the 

styles found at Poplar Grove. In finishing, care should be taken to replicate fonts, 

bevels, and finish. In addition, Vermont white marble or a similar white, lightly 

veined marble should be specified to match the visual character of the marble used 

historically for the historic first-generation recessed-shield headstones. The type 

of marble used historically for the second-generation recessed-shield headstones, 

General headstones, and flat markers is not known. 

Treatment

Figure 4.9 (top): Current standard government headstones and markers showing equivalent of 

the General used historically at Poplar Grove. The marble and bronze flat markers were used 

after 1933. (Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Memorial Affairs, Headstones and 

Markers, manual M40-3, December 1, 1982, Figure F.1.)

Figure 4.10 (middle): Example of recently installed government historical style stone “XB” at 

Glendale National Cemetery, with added inscription for the regiment within the shield and the 

date of burial below the shield. Note that the grave number, historically within the shield, was 

not replicated. This headstone is close to the second-generation recessed-shield headstones, but 

is three inches thick rather than four. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)

Figure 4.11 (bottom): Reproduction unknown block at Seven Pines National Cemetery. The font 

used for the grave number does not match the historic font; in addition, this block was installed 

higher than it was historically. An historic block is visible in the background. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

236

Installation and Archeological Concerns

Replacement grave markers should be level and in alignment both laterally and 

longitudinally with adjoining markers. In terms of landscape character, priority 

should be given to aligning replacement grave markers with the historic plan of the 

cemetery rather than with the head of grave shaft, generally following the existing 

marker locations. Inscriptions on headstones will face the grave toward the center 

of the cemetery. Recent geophysical and archeological testing by the park (2008) 

identified that in some places existing grave markers do not align with the head of 

the graves. The testing did not reveal evidence of the original 1877 placement of 

the upright headstones.35 Installation of replacement headstones should ideally be 

in the location of the original upright marker and avoid impacting the grave shaft. 

Where mature trees exist in the intended marker location, the markers should be 

moved to avoid impacts to the tree or its root system (see also BG Task 7). 

The original specifications for the recessed-shield headstones called for an 

installed height of twelve inches; for the blocks, four inches. Based on inspection 

of existing upright headstones at City Point National Cemetery, it appears that the 

headstones were either installed at eighteen inches, or were raised to this height 

at some point after the original installation in 1877, probably when the secondgeneration recessed-shield headstones were introduced in 1903 (these were three 

inches longer and installed at eighteen inches). Existing blocks at City Point vary 

in height, but appear to have been raised to six inches in height above grade. These 

changes in installed height probably occurred at Poplar Grove as well, prior to 

1934; the existing transformed headstones are generally cut off at eighteen inches, 

most likely at the original grade line. It thus may be appropriate to install the 

replacement headstones at Poplar Grove at eighteen inches tall and the blocks at 

six inches. 

Inscriptions

In general, the inscriptions (font, orientation, and layout) should match the 

historic stones. 36 For example, on the recessed-shield headstones, the inscriptions 

should be limited to the grave number, name, and state. Adding further content 

beyond that found on the historic marker, such as the life dates below the shield as 

shown on the current historical styles, changes the character of individual markers 

and should be avoided. Correction of inaccuracies in the inscriptions would not 

impact the historic character of the landscape. (Addressing corrections is beyond 

the scope of this report.) 

Disposition of Replaced Grave Markers

National Cemetery Administration regulations (headstone and marker policy), 

which apply to National Park Service national cemeteries, require that replaced 

grave markers be treated in a manner that prevents their reuse. The National 
237 

Cemetery Administration destroys old markers that are removed from a grave, but 

it does not insist that the National Park Service carry out this practice.37 The intent 

of the regulations is to prevent a situation such as the so-called Tombstone House, 

where the old headstone bases from Poplar Grove were used to sheathe a house. 

Grave Marker Replacement 

After careful consideration and consultation with the public, State Historic 

Preservation Office, and National Cemetery Administration, the park has decided 

that the preferred treatment is to install replacement grave markers at all graves 

with a few exceptions. The grave markers as a whole meet the conditions for 

replacement under national cemetery regulations due to overall deterioration. 

Replacement is also warranted because the headstones installed prior to 1934 

were irreparably altered by removal of the headstone base that would make return 

to an upright position infeasible. While the unknown blocks were not cut, they are 

in equally poor condition. Replacement of all markers is also warranted to reflect 

the historically equal treatment of the graves. 

The overall grave marker replacement plan follows historic national cemetery 

standards, with marker styles selected based on the war association of the veterans 

and the date of burial. In general, recessed-shield headstones will be installed at 

the graves of all known Civil War Union and Spanish-American War veterans, no 

matter when they died, except for those veterans who received non-government 

(private) headstones installed between 1866 and 1869. These markers will be 

retained. Any other veteran who died prior to the introduction of the General 

headstone in 1922 will also receive a recessed-shield headstone. All Civil War 

unknown graves will receive an unknown block. Veterans of World War I and 

later wars will receive a General headstone. Any veteran with service prior to 

World War I (but not Civil War or Spanish-American War) who died after 1922 

will also receive a General headstone. The park will consider how to treat the 

few markers at Confederate and civilian graves on a case-by-case basis. The 

inscriptions on existing markers will be replicated on the replacement markers 

with few exceptions. The park will establish a scrupulous process approved by 

the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). The process shall be academically 

rigorous and publicly transparent before the superintendent will approve that 

either stones or inscriptions be changed. The following is a description of how this 

plan will be implemented for each type of existing grave marker at Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery (dates in brackets indicate years of use). 

Recessed-Shield Headstones (1877-c.1933): Replace all existing first- and 

second-generation recessed-shield headstones with replica upright firstgeneration recessed-shield headstones: white marble cambered-profile tablet 

measuring ten inches wide, four inches thick, and thirty-six inches tall, installed 

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

238

at a height of eighteen inches above grade (height at end of historic period). 

Inscriptions will consist of raised block letters set within a recessed six-point 

shield, with the grave number at the top, the name in the middle, and the state 

regiment at the bottom. The marble will match the marble of the unknown blocks. 

To simplify the replacement process, this plan will eliminate the historic 

distinction between first- and second-generations of the recessed-shield 

headstone by using only the first-generation specifications. This change will 

not impact the historic character of the landscape because the two generations 

were very close in appearance and because less than one percent of the existing 

headstones are this type. Replicating the inscription “SP AM WAR,” or adding 

it where missing, will distinguish the graves of Spanish-American War veterans. 

Most of the existing second-generation headstones, with the exception of Civil 

War reinterments made between 1903 and 1931, are replacements of the firstgeneration headstones or unknown blocks.

Examples: 

The first-generation recessed-shield headstone at grave #2 (Sam’l Zeller, 

PA) will be replaced with a replica upright first-generation recessed-shield 

headstone with the same inscription (fig. 4.12). 

The second-generation Spanish-American War headstone (style B) installed as 

a replacement at the unknown Civil War veteran grave #5585 will be replaced 

with an unknown block with the inscription limited to the grave number (fig. 

4.13).

The second-generation recessed-shield headstone original to grave #3398-A 

(Isaac Davis, Spanish-American War veteran, style A) will be replaced with an 

upright first-generation recessed-shield headstone that replicates the existing 

inscription (fig. 4.14)

Unknown Blocks (1877-c.1903): Replace all unknown blocks with replica 

markers: white marble bevel-edged post measuring six inches square and thirty 

inches long, installed at a height of six inches above grade (height at end of historic 

period). The existing inscriptions (grave number and the number of remains 

if more than one) will be replicated. The marble will match the marble of the 

headstones. 

Example: 

The unknown block at grave #3974 will be replaced with a replica installed 6 

inches above grade with the same inscription limited to the grave number (fig. 

4.15). 

Figure 4.12 (top), Figure 4.13 

(middle), figure 4.14 (bottom). 

(Petersburg National Battlefield, 

2005.)

Figure 4.15. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
239 

General Headstones (post-1922): Replace all General headstones for veterans 

of World War I and later service with the current standard upright General 

headstone: white marble, 13 inches wide, 4 inches thick, 42 inches long, installed 

at a height of 24 inches above ground, with incised inscription and no shield. 

Replace General headstones installed as replacements for Civil War and SpanishAmerican War veterans with recessed-shield headstone for known graves or 

blocks for unknown graves. 

Examples: 

The General headstone installed in 1928 at grave #5603 (Rogers Gilliam) will 

be replaced with a current standard upright General headstone with the same 

inscription (fig. 4.16).

The General headstone installed in c.1980 as a flat marker replacement at 

grave #1027 (S J Carriss, PA) will be replaced with an upright recessed-shield 

headstone with the inscription limited to the content contained on the firstgeneration headstones (grave number, name, state) (fig 4.17).

Government Flat Markers (post-1939): Replace existing flat markers with 

upright General headstones at the graves of all veterans of World War I and later 

service. These graves would have received General headstones had the cemetery 

not been converted to flat markers in 1934. Install recessed-shield headstones or 

unknown blocks at all flat markers installed as replacements on graves of Civil 

War and Spanish-American War veterans.

Examples: 

The flat marker installed in 1940 at grave #5610 (John W. Brown) will be 

replaced with an upright General headstone with the same inscription (fig. 

4.18). 

The flat marker installed in c.1940 as a replacement of a Civil War headstone at 

grave #2922 (William Wood, PA) will be replaced with a recessed-shield with 

the inscription limited to the content contained on first-generation headstones 

(grave number, name, state) (fig. 4.19). 

The flat marker installed after c.1940 at unknown grave #5496 (probably as a 

replacement of a Civil War unknown block) will be replaced with an unknown 

block with the inscription limited to the grave number (fig. 4.20).

Medal of Honor Flat Marker (post-1940): Replace the two markers for Civil 

War veterans who received the Medal of Honor with current standard Generaltype Medal of Honor headstones (inscription with outline of recessed shield and 

Treatment

Figure 4.16. (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.)

Figure 4.17. (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.)

Figure 4.18 (top), Figure 4.19 

(middle), Figure 4.20 (bottom). 

(Petersburg National Battlefield, 

2005.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

240

Medal of Honor emblem, highlighted in gold lithochrome). There was historically 

no distinction in the recessed-shield headstones for Medal of Honor recipients. 

Retaining the flat bronze marker and installing a recessed-shield headstone 

is contrary to National Cemetery Administration regulations, which prohibit 

double-marking graves.38

Example: 

The Medal of Honor marker installed after 1940 as a replacement at grave 

#1283 (Henry M Hardenbergh, Civil War veteran) will be removed and 

replaced with an upright General-type Medal of Honor headstone (fig. 4.21).

Non-Government Headstones (c.1866-c.1920): Restore the five nongovernment (private) headstones installed between 1866 and 1869 by conserving 

the stone and resetting the tablet in an upright position on a new plinth or other 

sound footing. These warrant special treatment due to their unique design and 

workmanship. Apply the same treatment to later non-government furnished 

headstones for civilians (two graves of infants of the cemetery superintendent). 

Replace non-government furnished headstones installed as replacements at 

Civil War and Spanish-American War veterans’ graves (approximately six) with a 

recessed-shield headstone or unknown block, or if World War I or later service 

veterans, a General headstone.39

Examples:

The non-government headstone at grave #22 (John C. Murphy) installed in 

c.1868, will be conserved and set upright on a new plinth or other footing (fig. 

4.22).

The non-government replacement stone at grave #3162 (J. J. Drake, Civil 

War veteran), will be removed and replaced with an upright recessed-shield 

headstone with the same inscription (fig. 4.23).

Removal of Existing Grave Markers

After consideration of several alternatives (see Appendix J) and consultation 

with the National Cemetery Administration and the State Historic Preservation 

Office, the preferred treatment for all existing flat grave markers is to remove them 

from the cemetery when the replacement markers are installed.40 Through the 

Environmental Assessment process, the park is currently exploring alternatives 

for disposition of the old grave markers once they are removed from the cemetery. 

In keeping with national cemetery regulations, these alternatives will prevent 

their reuse. A representative sampling of the old markers will be displayed for 

interpretation within the cemetery lodge or another nearby location. 

Figure 4.21 (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.)

Figure 4.22 (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.)

Figure 4.23 (Petersburg National 

Battlefield, 2005.)
241 

BG Task 3: Redesign Grave Locator System (Drawing 4.1)

	 Small-Scale Features: Radial Drive Markers (non-contributing), Grave 

Locator-Interpretive Signs (non-contributing)

Redesign the grave locator system by first returning to the original division-section 

designation. The existing designation by blocks, introduced in c.1957, combines 

several of the historic sections and therefore makes it more difficult to locate 

individual graves. The locator system should include both hand-held material 

and markers at each section. The markers would be keyed to a new information 

wayside near the cemetery entrance (see LG Task 2). 

No documentation was found on the style of historic division-section markers 

at Poplar Grove. Therefore, the new markers should be considered a compatible 

new addition to the landscape. Install low granite posts with angled tops inscribed 

with the division letter and section number. This type of section marker is used 

at the Civil War-era Richmond National Cemetery (fig. 4.24). Given the radial 

plan of the cemetery, the most visible place for the grave markers is at the front of 

each section along the circular drives, facing the center. For rectangular sections, 

install the marker in the middle of the section along the adjoining drive. Installing 

multiple posts around each section (e.g., at the corners of each section) is not 

recommended because of the potential to clutter the landscape.41

As part of this task, remove the non-historic metal markers around the central 

loop of the main drive that identify the radial drives by the letters A through F. 

These markers relate to the contemporary block designation. Based on available 

documentation, the drives were not historically classified or named, aside from 

the main drive. 

BG Task 4: Resurface Main Drive, Return Circular Alignment to Loop (Drawing 4.1)

	 Circulation: Main Drive (contributing)

Return the main drive to its historic asphalt surface to give it more defined and 

well-maintained character. The 1931 specifications prepared by the Third Corps 

Area of the Quartermaster General were for a four inch-stone base and two-inch 

emulsified asphalt penetrating wearing surface. As shown on a 1939 photograph 

(see fig. 1.68), this asphalt surface weathered to a gray color, and had no curbs 

or other edging. The road was specified at ten feet in width, approximately the 

same as the existing surface except where it has been widened near the lodge and 

service yard. Remove the existing asphalt to return the pavement to the historic 

grade level with the turf. Resurfacing of the main drive should be coordinated 

with resurfacing of the approach road (CSA Task 6). 

Treatment

Figure 4.24: Granite section marker 

at the Civil War-era Richmond 

National Cemetery. The age of this 

section marker is not known. (SUNY 

ESF, 2006.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

242

As part of this task, return the central loop of the main drive to its original circular 

alignment centered on the flagstaff. While the present teardrop alignment dates 

to the end of the historic period in 1931, it was most likely added in response 

to wear from automobiles extending beyond the original gravel bed, and does 

not contribute to the historic designed character of the landscape. The teardrop 

alignment detracts from the symmetry of the circular plan of the cemetery, and 

extends over several adjoining graves, where it is supported by a concrete curb. 

Given that automobiles are prohibited from the main drive except for special use, 

there is no need to accommodate an automobile turning radius at the central loop. 

As part of the realignment, remove the concrete curb. Archeological monitoring 

may be necessary as part of the removal of the concrete curb to avoid disturbing 

graves. 

BG Task 5: Install New Flagstaff and Enhance Central Circle (Drawing 4.1)

	 Buildings and Structures: Flagstaff (non-contributing)

	 Small-Scale Features: Grave Locator-Interpretive Signs (noncontributing); Concrete Pads (non-contributing); Flagstaff Floodlight 

(non-contributing)

Return the flagstaff to its historic height and enhance the surrounding landscape 

of the central circle to reinforce its historic function as the majestic focal point of 

the cemetery. Undertake this task following completion of resurfacing the main 

drive (BG Task 4). Given the lack of historic integrity to the existing flagstaff, the 

preferred treatment is to replace it with a new painted metal flagstaff that matches 

or is close to the historic height of eighty feet so that the flag is visible above the 

tree canopy both within the cemetery and from the approach road (see CSA Task 

2). The new flagstaff should have a simple finial and be painted to match the 1931 

National Cemetery Regulations with a black base and white shaft. 

In addition to returning the flagstaff to its historic height, enhance the 

surrounding landscape within the loop of the main drive by removing the nonhistoric aluminum-frame grave locator and interpretive signs (also recommended 

under BG Task 3), and the rectangular concrete pads that were installed after the 

historic period, most likely as bases for benches (fig. 4.25). In addition, remove 

the existing non-historic flagstaff floodlight, together with its surrounding rocks 

and concealing boxwood, and replace with lighting that is less conspicuous in 

the landscape. Options may include recessed ground lighting at the base of the 

flagstaff or lighting installed on the shaft of the flagstaff. 

Once these non-historic features are removed, improve the lawn and establish 

a circular planting bed around the flagstaff to beautify the landscape, recall the 

mound that was removed in 1913, and provide a welcoming space for ceremonial 

gatherings. As a compatible new addition, establish a simple circular bed around 
243 

the flagstaff, approximately six feet in width (sixteen-foot 

overall diameter including the base of the flagstaff), with 

low-maintenance plant materials. Include a narrow walk on 

the north side for access to the halyard and an access pad 

around the flagstaff. The most appropriate material for the 

walk and the pad would be concrete with a coarse aggregate, 

allowed to weather.

Suggested plantings for the central bed include a simple 

border of English ivy (used historically along the inclosure 

wall) or similar evergreen groundcover, with an inner 

circle of long-lived low-maintenance flowering plants such 

as peonies and ever-blooming shrub roses (see fig. 4.25). 

Peonies and roses were used historically at Poplar Grove. 

Roses were traditionally used in cemetery landscapes as 

symbols of divine mercy, while evergreen ivy symbolized 

eternal life.42 

BG Task 6: Reintroduce Three Missing Gun Monuments (Drawing 4.1)

	 Small-Scale Feature: Gun Monument (contributing)

Reintroduce the three missing gun monuments (upright cannons) that together 

with the existing gun monument encircled the central flagstaff. Poplar Grove was 

historically among the larger Civil War-era national cemeteries, and as such was 

outfitted with four gun monuments; the present existence of one gun monument 

places Poplar Grove in the rank of the small cemeteries, such as Glendale and 

Seven Pines.

The preferred treatment is to acquire the three missing guns from Fort Donelson 

National Battlefield (Tennessee) where they were purportedly transferred in 

c.1974, and return them to Poplar Grove. If this is not feasible, then fabricate 

replicas of the guns using the existing gun monument as a mold. Install caps 

made of a single cannonball (see fig. 1.48; missing from existing gun monument). 

Consideration may be given to use of durable alternate materials provided the 

outward appearance is consistent with the historic painted iron. Do not include 

shields on the replicas; only the existing gun monument had one. Install the 

replicas on rectangular concrete pads and reproduce the pyramidal pile of shot as 

found at the existing gun. Remove the paint from the bronze shield on the existing 

gun monument and replicate the missing cannonball cap. 

Treatment

Figure 4.25: Diagram of the 

central circle showing proposed 

treatment in tasks BG Tasks 5 

and 6. This drawing also shows 

the realigned circular loop of 

the main entrance drive as 

recommended in BG Task 4. 

(SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

244

BG Task 7: Reestablish Historic Character of Burial Grounds Trees 

	 Vegetation: Specimen Trees (contributing)

Reestablish the historic character of the trees in the burial grounds through 

removal and new plantings to approximate the general character and species 

composition at the end of the historic period in 1933. This task is discussed first by 

general guidelines on the treatment of specimen trees in the burial grounds, then 

by tree removals and tree plantings.

General Guidelines

The recommended treatment for specimen trees within the burial grounds is 

to reestablish the character represented by War Department’s 1931 plan, “Tree 

Planting Layout” (fig. 4.26). The intent of this treatment is to reestablish the 

overall even distribution of a diverse collection of coniferous and deciduous trees 

that existed at the end of the War Department period. Literal implementation of 

this plan may not be necessary to enhance historic character. There are a number 

of contemporary issues that may require flexibility in location and species, 

particularly to ensure preservation of the graves and headstones. Sanctity of the 

graves and preservation of the markers shall always take precedent over planting 

of new specimen trees. 

In addition to those tree species shown on the 1931 plan, earlier species that 

existed in the cemetery during the War Department period but which disappeared 

by the 1933 treatment date may be appropriate for new plantings. Conifers 

historically made up a substantial proportion of the tree stock, mostly loblolly 

pines that predated the cemetery’s establishment in 1866. In addition to providing 

year-round color, conifers were a traditional funerary symbol of life everlasting. 

Alternative species may be warranted when a species is no longer viable due to 

disease, or when a historic species is considered invasive or has the potential for 

damaging graves, markers, and lawn. In general, alternate species should either 

be those used historically within the cemetery (see Appendix G), or those that 

are close in appearance to the historic species (see Table 4.2). Tree species used 

historically at Poplar Grove that today have disease issues include American 

elm (Dutch elm disease and elm yellowing), purple beech (beech bark disease), 

European mountain ash (anthracnose), ash (ash yellowing and the recent 

introduction of Emerald Ash Borer—see CSA Task 5), and hemlock (hemlock 

woolly adelgid, an insect that causes fatal damage). Trees that have ecological 

issues include box elder and Norway maple, which are considered invasive in 

many areas. Sugar maples are at the limits of their southern range and may be 

stressed in future years given recent warming trends; certain cultivars such as 

Green Mountain, however, are better able to withstand heat. 
245 

Rooting habit is an important consideration within the burial grounds. Trees with 

shallow, lateral roots systems (typically lowland trees) may sap moisture from 

the lawn, heave grave markers, and make mowing difficult, but are unlikely to 

affect the underlying graves. Among the shallow-rooted trees found historically 

at Poplar Grove are Norway maple, Norway spruce, red maple, silver maple, and 

willows. In general, surface roots can be minimized by ensuring proper soils 

and moisture levels. Trees with deep, penetrating roots (taproot) are less likely 

to impact grave markers or mowing, but could penetrate graves. Those found 

historically at Poplar Grove include eastern red-cedar, loblolly pine, sugar maple, 

tulip-tree, false cypress, and willow oak. A third class of root system has wide 

spreading and deep laterals that may also pose disturbance issues if planted in 

inadequate soils. Those found historically at Poplar Grove include American elm, 

linden, green ash, horsechestnut, and pin oak.43

Treatment

Figure 4.26: The 1931 War 

Department planting plan for 

Poplar Grove that serves as 

the basis for reestablishing the 

historic character of specimen 

trees and shrubs within the burial 

grounds in BG tasks 7 and 8. 

The ash specified was European 

mountain ash; oak, pin oak; pine, 

Austrian pine; spruce, Norway 

spruce; and maple, Norway 

maple. This plan does not identify 

the species of preexisting trees. 

(Detail of fig. 1.62, National 

Archives.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

246

In addition to rooting habit, the density of the canopy is also an important 

consideration in lawn maintenance. Norway maple and big-leaf lindens tend to 

have dense canopies that create shade and drought conditions, which impede 

healthy lawn development. Dense canopies can also accelerate biological growths 

on the headstones.

All trees within the burial grounds should be pruned up at maturity, with lower 

branches not extending lower than ten feet to allow clear passage, allow for 

healthy turf, and not obstruct sight lines toward the central flagstaff. It may be 

appropriate to allow certain hollies, red-cedar, spruce, and magnolias in outlying 

parts of the burial grounds to have lower canopies for visual interest. Since 

mulch was not maintained around specimen trees during the historic period, 

the understory should be maintained as turf. Mulch is recommended for new 

plantings to avoid impacts from mowers and to improve growing conditions. As 

the trees become well established, the mulch should be replaced with turf. 

Tree Preservation (Drawing 4.1). 

Retain existing mature trees in good condition as shown on drawing 4.1. During 

the proposed installation of new grave markers (BG Task 2), aged and characterdefining specimens such as the large willow oaks in Blocks IV, and VIII, and 

XVIII; the white-cedar in Block XI; the magnolia in Block X, and the scattered 

remaining loblolly pines, should be protected. Where there is a conflict with 

placement of the new markers, place the new 

headstones or blocks in front of or to the side of 

the tree. To avoid damage to the root systems, 

consider installing the headstones as flat markers. 

This is a practice used by the National Cemetery 

Administration at Fort Harrison National 

Cemetery near Richmond (fig. 4.27). When the 

tree is removed in the future, the markers can be 

returned to their intended location and position. 

Overall, the key to maintaining historic 

character of specimen trees in the long term is 

to implement a program of in-kind replacement. 

Trees should be allowed to mature naturally and 

be removed only when in a state of decline that threatens public safety or poses 

the potential for damage to adjoining historic features. While trees’ natural growth 

can have a marked impact on landscape character, generally this dynamic is 

compatible because it was intentional and characterized the landscape historically. 

Large, aged trees are valuable because they are tangible markers of time passage 

and provide living connections to the past. 

Figure 4.27: Alternative placement 

of headstones used to preserve 

and protect historic trees at Fort 

Harrison National Cemetery. It 

is recommended that a similar 

treatment be used when installing 

new markers at Poplar Grove if the 

historic marker placement conflicts 

with the location of mature, 

healthy specimen trees. (SUNY ESF, 

2006.)
247 

Tree Removals (Drawing 4.1)

Remove trees as indicated on drawing 4.1 because they block circulation patterns 

and site lines. These were all planted after 1933. Surrounding the central loop, the 

existing trees as a collection are too dense and have low branching that obstructs 

view of the flagstaff from the graves. Several cedars and a red maple and holly are 

recommended for removal for these reasons. 

Many of the trees planted after 1934, including numerous red-cedar trees planted 

in 1937, are compatible with the historic character of the landscape and therefore 

may be retained. Once they require replacement, they can either be removed and 

not replaced, or replaced with the species used historically in that location (if any). 

Tree Planting (Drawing 4.1)

Plant specimen trees as indicated, following the general intent of the 1931 War 

Department plan “Tree Planting Layout” with modifications to accommodate 

existing trees, better use open space between sections, screen modern 

development along the east and north sides, and diversify the species palette. Plant 

trees along the drive edges rather than within the drives to maintain the historic 

circulation patterns. Planting within the walks (area between the foot of the 

grave and the markers) and within the rows between markers (for smaller trees) 

is appropriate. Archeological testing may be necessary prior to tree planting to 

ascertain potential impacts to the graves.

Recommended species include those specified by the War Department on the 

1931 plan, plus those that existed at the time or earlier in the cemetery’s history, 

including false cypress, hickory, loblolly pine, southern magnolia, sweet-gum, 

silver maple, tulip-tree, willow oak, water oak, and red oak. From the 1931 

proposed plantings, red horsechestnut is substituted for disease-prone European 

mountain ash; and red, silver, and sugar maples are substituted for invasive 

Norway maple. See Table 4.2 for additional information on tree species. For 

American elms, it is recommended that a viable cultivar be used, or that hackberry 

(Celtis occidentalis), a member of the elm family with a similar vase-shaped habit, 

be substituted. American lindens and other dense canopy trees should be limbed 

high upon maturity to allow adequate sunlight for understory turf. The following 

is a list of the proposed tree plantings in the burial grounds (additional trees 

are recommended for the lodge grounds, service yard, cemetery inclosure, and 

approach; see CSA Task 5, CI Task 2, SY Task 3, and LG Task 4):

American elm ( or hackberry) 5

American holly 5

Austrian pine 6

Treatment
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

248

False Cypress 2

Hickory 1

American linden 6

Loblolly pine 35

Norway spruce 2

Pin oak 6

Red horsechestnut 4

Red oak 2

Silver maple 2

Southern magnolia 4

Sugar maple 3

Sweet-gum 2

Tulip-tree 4

Water oak 1

Willow oak 8

__________________________________

Total 98

BG Task 8: Plant Shrubs in Burial Grounds 

	 Vegetation: Specimen Shrubs (existing shrubs non-contributing)

Plant shrubs in the burial grounds to beautify the landscape and enhance historic 

character through removal and new plantings. This task is discussed first by 

general guidelines, then by shrub removals and plantings.

Guidelines

Shrubs should be planted and maintained to avoid obscuring grave markers and 

blocking drives. Because of their limited root systems, shrubs do not have the 

same potential as specimen trees to impact grave markers or underlying graves. 

Nonetheless, archeological testing may be required prior to planting. 

At the end of the War Department period (1933), the burial grounds were 

characterized by many more shrubs than exist today. There was an allee or hedge 

of boxwood shrubs on the drive between Divisions D and E extending north from 

the rostrum, and boxwoods along the axial north-south and east-west drives near 

the flagstaff that were probably remnants of larger shrub borders. Most of these 

shrubs were clipped into low mounds. There were also scattered crape myrtles. 

There is no comprehensive documentation on shrubs that existed in 1933. 

Shrub Removal (Drawing 4.1)

With a few exceptions, remove all existing shrubs within the burial grounds 

because of their poor condition or location blocking drives and sight lines. 
249 

These include two remnant boxwoods in the boxwood allee in Division D (to be 

replaced), and four crape myrtles in the drive east of the flagstaff in Division B. 

Retain the healthy boxwood on the south side of the main drive near the rostrum, 

and the crape myrtle in Division D, section d north of the main drive for their aged 

character (it is not known if they pre-date 1934). 

Shrub Planting (Drawing 4.1)

Recommended shrub plantings consist of the following three shrub features. A list 

of proposed plant materials is in Table 4.2.

Plant boxwood shrubs along north-south and east-west axial drives: These 

recommended plantings reestablish the general arrangement of boxwoods shown 

on the War Department 1931 plan and extend these symmetrically to form a 

cross with the flagstaff at the center. Plant three boxwoods spaced approximately 

twenty-five feet apart on each side of the axial drives, beginning at the outer edge 

of second circular drive, for a total of twentyfour boxwoods. Clip these into low mounds, 

approximately three feet high, as shown in a 

1939 photograph (fig. 4.28, see also fig. 1.48). 

Because there is no historic documentation 

for this exact planting, this is considered 

a compatible new addition that recalls 

the earlier plantings. The new plantings 

reinforce the center and the symmetry 

of the landscape by marking the filled-in 

drive north of the flagstaff. The shrubs will 

also help orient visitors to the layout of the 

cemetery. 

Replant boxwood allee: Replant the boxwood 

allee (hedge) that extended along both 

sides of the drive between Divisions D 

and E. Plant twenty-five boxwood shrubs, 

twelve on the west side and thirteen on the east side of the drive. Space the 

shrubs approximately eighteen feet apart and align them with the spaces between 

the grave markers (to avoid obstruction). Clip the boxwoods into mounds, 

approximately three feet high as recommended for the east-west and north-south 

axial drives (see fig. 4.28). The function of this allee is not known for certain, but it 

may have served as a processional route from the lodge grounds to the flagstaff. 

Plant crape myrtles along circular drive: There were six crape myrtles documented 

in 1931, but their locations are not known (these may be the deciduous shrubs 

Treatment

Figure 4.28: A 1939 photograph 

showing low, clipped mounded 

boxwood shrubs along the eastwest walk west of the flagstaff 

that date to the historic period. 

One of the historic iron tablets 

is visible at the right side of the 

photograph. (Detail of fig. 1.68, 

copyright Library of Virginia.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

250

shown in fig. 4.28). The recommended plantings for seven new crape myrtles tie 

into the existing crape myrtle on the third circular drive in Division D north of the 

main drive. Prune the shrubs into a vase shape that does not obstruct adjoining 

grave markers. Because there is no historic documentation for this planting, this is 

intended as a compatible new addition. 

BG Task 9: Reinstall Iron Tablets (Drawing 4.1)

	 Small-Scale Features: Iron Tablets (in storage)

Reinstall the standard iron signs known as tablets that are presently in storage in 

the loft of the cemetery garage. While they have not been inventoried, it appears 

most of the signs exist. The complete set historically included one “General 

Orders No. 80” tablet (M on drawing 4.1) fronting the service yard; four “Act 

to Establish and Protect National Cemeteries” (N) tablets located in front of 

the service yard and in the burial grounds; one “Visitors Notice, Invitation 

to Register” (P) tablet near the lodge (should be reinstalled as part of a new 

information wayside, see LG Task 2); and ten four-line verses from “The Bivouac 

of the Dead” (O) scattered around the burial grounds. 

Reinstall these tablets in their historic locations on new square posts painted 

white, approximately two to three feet off the ground (see fig 4.28). As specified in 

the 1931 National Cemetery Regulations, the tablets should be painted black with 

the borders and letters in aluminum paint.44 If any of the tablets are missing or 

broken, they should be replicated. The original casting forms may still exist at the 

Army’s Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, Illinois. 

BG Task 10: Install Benches (Drawing 4.1)

	 Small-Scale Features: Settees (non-existing historic feature)

Install fourteen benches along the drives to reintroduce this feature to 

the landscape and provide visitors with resting places. Place four benches 

symmetrically around the central loop drive; eight along the third outer loop drive; 

and two along the main entrance drive. There were nine settees in 1929, down 

from twenty in 1888, but their locations are not known. The preferred treatment 

is to fabricate a replica of the 1877 settees based on photographic record or on 

a surviving settee at another national cemetery, or plans if they can be located. 

If this is not feasible, install a contemporary bench that recalls the design of the 

historic settee using a metal frame and painted wood slats (fig. 4.29). Following the 

1931 National Cemetery Regulations, paint the benches bronze green.45
251 

Treatment

Treatment priorities

The following table summarizes the recommended tasks for the rehabilitation of 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, and provides a ranking of 1 through 3 to identify 

priorities. Overall, tasks with the highest priority reestablish character-defining 

landscape features to return a sense of honor and respect to the landscape, 

notably the grave markers, approach road allee, and specimen trees and shrubs. 

Tasks that enhance visitor use and interpretation, such as a new information 

wayside and reinstallation of the iron tablets, are also high priority. 

Figure 4.29: A 1968 photograph 

showing a remaining c.1877 woodslat and iron frame settee (left), 

and example of a contemporary 

bench with similar design. (Left: 

detail of fig. 1.73, Petersburg 

National Battlefield; right: item 

AL006, “Traditional Garden Bench,” 

Benches.com, www.benches.com.)

(continued)

TABLE 4.1: SUMMARY OF LANDSCAPE TREATMENT TASKS 

POPLAR GROVE NATIONAL CEMETERY 

TASK 

ID

TASK NAME 

PRIORITY 

1/HIGH 

2/MED. 

3/LOW 

RELATED 

TASK 

Cemetery Setting and Approach (CSA) 

CSA Task 1 Install New Entrance Signs 1

CSA Task 2 Clear West Woods and Reestablish Approach View 

of Cemetery 1 CSA Task 5 

CSA Task 3 Clear Triangular Woodlot and Screen Vaughan 

Road 1 CSA Task 5 

CSA Task 4 Redesign Odom Cemetery Inclosure 3 CSA Task 5

CSA Task 5 Reestablish Approach Road Allee 1 CSA Tasks 2, 3, 4; 

BG Task 7 

CSA Task 6 Resurface Approach Road 2 SY Task 1, BG

Task 4 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

252

CSA Task 7 Remove South Hedgerow 2 

CSA Task 8 Relocate Visitor Parking Lot 2 

CSA Task 9 Relocate Private Drive 3 

Cemetery Inclosure (CI) 

CI Task 1 Improve Drainage Through Inclosure Wall 1 BG Task 1

CI Task 2 Enhance North and East Woods 2 

CI Task 3 Maintain Mown Corridor Along Inclosure Wall 2 CI Task 2

Service Yard (SY) 

SY Task 1 Reconfigure Service Drive 1 CSA Task 6, BG 

Task 4 

SY Task 2 Plant Service Yard Hedge 1 SY Task 1

SY Task 3 Plant Specimen Trees 2 SY Task 1, BG 

Task 7 

SY Task 4 Return Garage to Historic Appearance 2 

Lodge Grounds (LG) 

LG Task 1 Construct New Walk to Public Restroom Building 1 LG Task 2

LG Task 2 Install New Cemetery Information Wayside 1 LG Task 1, BG 

Task 9 

LG Task 3 Remove Privacy Fence and Plant Boxwood Hedge 3 

LG Task 4 Establish New Plantings in Lodge Grounds 1 

BG Task 7, SY 

Task 3, CI Task 2, 

CSA Task 5 

LG Task 5 Replant Maltese Cross Hedge 2 

LG Task 6 Return Public Restroom Building to Historic 

Appearance 3 

LG Task 7 Return Lodge to Historic Appearance 3 

LG Task 8 Return Historic Color Scheme to Rostrum 3 

Burial Grounds (BG) 

BG Task 1 Improve Cemetery Lawn 1 CI Task 1 

BG Task 2 Install New Grave Markers 1 

BG Task 3 Redesign Grave Locator System 1 BG Task 2, LG Task 2

BG Task 4 Resurface Main Drive, Return Circular Alignment to 

Loop 1 BG Task 5, LG Task 2 

BG Task 5 Install New Flagstaff and Enhance Central Circle 1 BG Tasks 4, 6

BG Task 6 Return Three Missing Gun Monuments 2 

BG Task 7 Reestablish Historic Character of Burial Grounds 

Trees 2 

BG Task 2, LG Task 4, 

SY Task 3, CI Task 2, 

CSA Task 5 

BG Task 8 Plant Shrubs in Burial Grounds 2 BG Task 7, LG Task 4

BG Task 9 Reinstall Iron Tablets 2 

BG Task 10 Install Benches 3 
253 

Treatment

TABLE 4.2: RECOMMENDED PLANT MATERIALS 

POPLAR GROVE NATIONAL CEMETERY 

RECOMMENDED 

SPECIES 

* ALTERNATES 

COMMON 

NAME 

(DWG. 4.1 KEY) 

HISTORIC PLANT 

MATERIAL AT POPLAR 

GROVE 

NOTES 

Trees 

Acer rubrum Red maple 

(rm) 

Same Up to 100’ tall, fast growing. Heavy 

surface rooting; should not be 

planted near headstones. Use 

cultivar with fuller crown and 

fewer tendencies toward branch 

dieback than species, such as 

“Autumn Flame”. 

Acer saccharinum Silver maple 

(svm) 

Same Up to 100’ tall, fast growing. Heavy 

surface rooting; should not be 

planted near headstones. 

Acer saccharum Sugar maple 

(sm) 

Same. Use as substitute for 

Norway maple 

Up to 100’ tall, moderate growth 

rate. Use cultivar with better heat 

tolerance than species, such as 

“Green Mountain.” 

Aesculus x carmea Red horsechestnut

(hc) 

Probably common 

horsechestnut, Aesculus 

hippocastanum 

European mountain ash, 

Sorbus acuparia 

Up to 30’ tall, x carnea smaller 

than common horsechestnut (up 

to 100’ tall), historically limited to 

single specimen in lodge grounds 

(center of turn-around). A. x 

carnea is suitable as a replacement 

for European mountain ash, 

specified in the 1931 War 

Department plan, but a short-lived 

and diseased species. 

Carya sp. Hickory 

(hk) 

Probably pignut hickory, 

Carya glabra 

Up to 80’ tall; existing specimen 

was planted after 1934. 

Celtis occidentalis Hackberry Not applicable Possible replacement for American 

elm; member of the elm family 

with similar vase-shape habit. 

Chamaecyparis sp. False cypress 

(fc) 

Not determined; probably 

a variety of C. lawsoniana

(Lawson Cypress) 

Up to 100’ tall, low branching, 

slow growing. Thriving single 

specimen in Division C, Section E. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

254

Fraxinus americana 

* Celtis occidentalis 

White ash 

(wa) 

* Hackberry 

Either white or green ash 

(F. pennsylvanica); planted 

in approach road allee 

Up to 80’ tall; select cultivars 

without tendency toward twigs 

and with vase-shape. Both green 

and white ash are susceptible to 

ash decline and ash yellowing; 

present threat of Emerald ash 

borer favors use of an alternate, 

such as hackberry. 

Ilex opaca American holly 

(h) 

Same Up to 50’ tall, low branching. 

Several healthy mature specimens 

in cemetery. 

Juniperus virginiana Eastern red-cedar 

(rc) 

Same. Native tree, 

originally transplanted 

from surrounding fields 

Up to 40’ tall, little canopy. Aside 

from initial planting by burial 

corps, there were few specimens 

during historic period; widely 

planted by NPS in 1937. Most in 

cemetery nearing end of lifespan. 

Liriodendron tulipifera Tulip-tree (yellow 

poplar) 

(tt) 

Same. Originally 

transplanted from 

surrounding woods 

Up to 100’ tall, fast growing. 

Minimal surface roots. Most of the 

specimens were historically in the 

approach road allee. 

Liquidambar styraciflua Sweet-gum 

(sg) 

Same Up to 125’ tall. One thriving 

specimen in cemetery. 

Magnolia grandiflora Southern 

magnolia 

(ma) 

Same Up to 35’ tall, low branching; 

several thriving mature specimens. 

Picea abies Norway spruce 

(ns) 

Same; cultivar not known Up to 200’ tall; some surface 

rooting and heavy canopy. Should 

not be planted adjacent to graves 

due to low, wide branching. Many 

cultivars; use one with a graceful, 

drooping habit for burial grounds; 

use narrow cultivar for specimens 

to either side of entrance gates. No 

specimens remain in cemetery; at 

southern end of range. 

Pinus nigra Austrian pine 

(ap) 

Same Up to 120’; high branching. No 

specimens remaining in cemetery; 

reason not known. 

Pinus taeda Loblolly pine 

(lp) 

Same. Native variety, most 

from pre-existing second 

growth trees 

Up to 100’ tall, high branching; 

minimal surface roots. Dominant 

tree during historic period. Most 

specimens reaching end of life. 

Prunus americana American plum 

(pl) 

Same Up to 50’ tall; native tree with 

profuse white flowers; not usually 

planted as an ornamental. For 

maintenance purposes, a sterile 

variety may be warranted. No 

longer existing in cemetery; 
255 

Pinus taeda Loblolly pine Treatment

(lp) 

Same. Native variety, most 

from pre-existing second 

growth trees 

Up to 100’ tall, high branching; 

minimal surface roots. Dominant 

tree during historic period. Most 

specimens reaching end of life. 

Prunus americana American plum 

(pl) 

Same Up to 50’ tall; native tree with 

profuse white flowers; not usually 

planted as an ornamental. For 

maintenance purposes, a sterile 

variety may be warranted. No 

longer existing in cemetery; 

historically planted in lodge 

grounds. 

Pyrus sp. Pear 

(pr) 

Not known; most likely 

callery pear, Pyrus comunis 

Up to 50’ tall, common fruit tree 

with white flowers. Use 

variety/cultivar that is close in size 

to the American plum. For 

maintenance purposes, a sterile 

variety may be warranted. No 

longer existing in cemetery; 

historically planted in lodge 

grounds. Avoid contemporary 

ornamental cultivars, such as 

Bradford pear. 

Quercus nigra Water oak 

(wo) 

Same Up to 50’ tall; good for wet areas; 

typically has surface roots. 

Relatively small and short-lived 

oak. No specimens remain in 

cemetery. 

Quercus palustris Pin oak 

(po) 

Same Up to 100’ tall; not prone to 

surface roots. No specimens 

remain in cemetery; reason not 

known. 

Quercus phellos Willow oak 

(wio) 

Same Up to 100’ tall, high canopy; 

limited surface roots, but massive 

trunk at maturity. Thriving 

specimens in cemetery. 

Quercus rubra Red oak 

(ro) 

Probably introduced after 

1934 

Up to 100’ tall, high canopy, 

relatively fast growing, native. 

Although not documented during 

the historic period, the existing red 

oak is thriving and has a 

comparable habit to the willow 

oak. It would be a good oak to 

retain in the cemetery’s tree stock. 

Tilia americana American linden, 

basswood (ln) 

Probably same; in 

approach road allee 

Up to 100’; select variety that is 

resistant to suckering; prune 

canopy high to allow adequate 

sunlight for understory turf. 

Tilia cordata Little-leaf linden Tilia americana, American Up to 80’ tall, moderate canopy 

height, some surface rooting. No 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

256

(ln) linden lindens survive in cemetery. Littleleaf linden is preferred over 

American linden because the 

canopy is less dense and allows 

better lawn development 

underneath. Care must be taken to 

ensure young trees do not dry out. 

Ulmus sp. 

* Celtis occidentalis 

American elm 

(e) 

* Hackberry 

Ulmus Americana Up to 100’ tall; was noted as a 

problem historically due to surface 

roots; most specimens removed 

during historic period. Plant only 

cultivar resistant to Dutch elm and 

elm yellowing disease (transgenic 

cultivar currently being tested; 

only cultivar resistant to both 

diseases). If no viable cultivar 

available, plant hackberry, which 

has a similar vase-shaped habit (in 

the elm family). 

Shrubs & Vines 

Buxus sempervirens, 

‘Vardar Valley’ or similar 

Common 

boxwood, 

American 

boxwood 

(bx) 

Probably common 

boxwood; (historic plants 

remain on site) 

Most common shrub in cemetery 

during historic period. 

To be managed as shrubs clipped 

into mounds, approximately 3-4’ 

high, 4-5’ in diameter upon 

maturity. “Vardar Valley” is a 

dense, mound-forming variety 

with mid-to-dark green leaves. 

Lagerstroemia indica Crape myrtle 

(cm) 

Same; color not known Up to 20’ tall; many hybrid 

cultivars. Existing crape myrtles 

are most likely post-1934 

plantings. 

Thuja orientalis (recently 

reclassified as Platycladus 

orientalis), ‘Pyramidalis’ 

or similar 

Chinese arborvitae

(ca) 

Historic variety not known. 

Probably a dark green 

upright variety. 

For use in service drive hedge. 

Many cultivars on the market; use 

one that is dark green (not yellow), 

6-8’ tall at maturity. Monitor for 

possible infestation of arborvitae 

leafminers (Argyresthia sp.), which 

will turn leaves brown at the end 

of a branchlet in early spring. Can 

be controlled by wasp parasites, or 

by application of pesticides, such 

as permethrin. 

Bedding Plants 

Various Flowering annuals Not known. Potential use of old-fashioned 

annuals with long bloom period, 

such as wax begonia, geranium, 

and marigold for proposed bed 

near the lodge and for flagstaff 

bed. 
257 

Treatment

leafminers (Argyresthia sp.), which 

will turn leaves brown at the end 

of a branchlet in early spring. Can 

be controlled by wasp parasites, or 

by application of pesticides, such 

as permethrin. 

Bedding Plants 

Various Flowering annuals Not known. Potential use of old-fashioned 

annuals with long bloom period, 

such as wax begonia, geranium, 

and marigold for proposed bed 

near the lodge and for flagstaff 

bed. 

Paeonia officinalis Common peony Not known; probably 

common peony 

May require staking; 

recommended for use in bed near 

the lodge. 

Rosa spp. Shrub rose Not known. Use low (2-3’), mounding rose, 

with extended bloom period; 

recommended for use in proposed 

bed near lodge and flagstaff bed. 

Sources: L. H. Bailey, editor, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture (1900, revised 1942). 

 Sean Hogan, consultant, Flora: The Gardener’s Bible (2003). 

 National Park Service, 1941 “Poplar Grove Master Plan.” 

 War Department, 1931 “Poplar Grove National Cemetery Tree Planting Layout.” 

 Donald Wyman, Wyman’s Gardening Encyclopedia (1986).
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

258

endnotes

1 Robert R. Page, Cathy A. Gilbert, and Susan A. Dolan, A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and 

Techniques (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1998), 81.

2 Such tasks are addressed in a separate cultural landscape document known in the NPS as a “Preservation Maintenance 

Plan.” This plan is not included in the scope of this project.

3 The treatment workshop with staff from the Olmsted Center, SUNY ESF, National Park Service Northeast Region, 

and Petersburg National Battlefield was held on December 6, 2006. The park held civic engagements on the project on 28 

September 2007 and 8 October 2008. Treatment concepts have been revised in keeping with the development of project 

plans and environmental impact statements. 

4 U.S. Statutes at Large, volume XIV, 353, quoted in Herbert Olsen, “Poplar Grove National Cemetery History” 

(Unpublished National Park Service report, 31 May 1954), 9-10.

5 National Cemeteries Act of 1973, Pub. L. 93-43, Sec. 2(a), 18 June 1973. Poplar Grove is part of the historical system of 

national cemeteries, but legally not part of the current National Cemetery System.

6 2006 NPS Management Policies, Use of the Parks, section 8.6.10.1.

7 Director’s Order #61: National Cemetery Operations, http://www.nps.gov/policy/DOrders/DOrder61.htm. These orders 

were revised and opened for comment through 15 January 2003. As of May 2009, the revision has not yet been finalized.

8 Veterans Administration, Department of Memorial Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, Headstones and Markers

(Manual M40-3, 1 December 1982), chapters 4, 9; Jennifer Perunko, Historian, National Cemetery Administration, 

comments on draft cultural landscape report, 8 June 2009.

9 National Cemetery Administration, National Shrine Commitment, “Operational Standards and Measures,” version 2.0 

(October 2004), 4.

10 Operational Standards and Measures, 12, 23. The National Cemetery Administration provides additional landscape 

treatment guidelines through its Office of Construction Management within the National Cemetery Administration, 

available on its webpage at http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/ocm, “Site Elements / Features.”

11 War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General, National Cemetery Regulations (Washington, D. C.: 

Government Printing Office, 1931). 10.

12 National Park Service, “Petersburg National Battlefield Final General Management Plan/Abbreviated Final 

Environmental Impact Statement” (2004) (hereafter, “GMP”), 53, 55.

13 GMP, 52, 58.

14 Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (1995), http://www.cr.nps.gov/local-law/

arch_stnds_8_2.htm.

15 Primary Treatment Alternatives Considered But Not Recommended: 

Preservation is not recommended as the primary treatment for Poplar Grove National Cemetery because it 

would retain the existing appearance that is inconsistent with the historic character of the landscape and would 

perpetuate a perceived dishonor to the veterans buried therein. 

Restoration is not recommended as the primary treatment for Poplar Grove National Cemetery due to the lack of 

adequate documentation, particularly regarding the vegetation, the need to address contemporary park uses and 

visitor needs, and the existence of post-1934 graves that extend the period of significance under Criterion A to 

2003. 

Reconstruction is not recommended as the primary treatment for Poplar Grove National Cemetery because the 

cemetery retains much of its historic fabric. Reconstruction as a primary treatment would theoretically involve 

rebuilding a vanished landscape. 
259 

16 NPS-28 Cultural Resource Management Guideline, Chapter 7: Management of Cultural Landscapes, http://www.

cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/nps28/28chap7.htm.

17 A detailed description of the historic character of the landscape is found in chapter 3, Analysis and Evaluation.

18 Lawrence Bibbs, Manager and Program Analyst, Fort Harrison National Cemetery, conversation with author and Park 

Ranger Betsy Dinger, 7 June 2006; Operational Standards and Measures, 12, 23.

19 Bibbs.

20 Although Vaughan Road is part of the larger public approach to the cemetery, its treatment is beyond the scope of this 

CLR. The character of Vaughan Road from Flank Road (historic parkway) to the cemetery is part of the cemetery’s larger 

setting. Increased development and substantial widening or increases in traffic volume could be detrimental to this setting.

21 The Odom tract, although not federally owned, is protected through its ownership by the National Park Foundation. 

22 GMP, 52. The GMP states that this land acquisition is intended primarily to protect the Globe Tavern battlefield. 

Although the GMP identifies only approximately four of these acres (cemetery approach road and northwest field/R. Taylor 

farm) for protection of Poplar Grove National Cemetery, a far larger amount of acreage constitutes the cemetery’s historic 

setting.

23 These include Valley Forge, New Harmony, and Princeton. For comparison of these elm varieties, see: http://www.

elmpost.org/compare.htm. While resistant to Dutch elm disease, these elms may not be resistant to elm yellows, another 

lethal disease that attacks American elms. Tests are being conducted now at SUNY College of Environmental Science and 

Forestry on a transgenic American elm that is resistant to both Dutch elm disease and elm yellows (see http://www.esf.

edu/ pubprog/elm/default.htm). The Asian varieties of elm, such as Siberian and Chinese elms, are generally not historically 

appropriate replacements for the American elm because of their markedly different form and growth habit.

24 Jill Pokorny and Wayne Sinclair, How to Identify and Manage Ash Yellows in Forest Stands and Home Landscapes

(Washington, D.C.: USDA Forest Service, publication NA_FR-03-94, 1994). 2. Emerald ash borer was discovered in 

Virginia in summer 2008; see www.emeraldashborer.info.

25 An alternative to retaining the remaining allee trees was considered, but was rejected due to the condition of the trees 

and the need to reestablish uniformity to the replanted allee. 

26 If there is insufficient space for a septic field in the entrance field or southeast field, an alternate location for the parking 

lot would be in the area presently occupied by the west woods, moving the lot north of its existing location.

27 A third drain opening in the south side of the wall within the lodge grounds/assembly area does not presently back up, 

but this may be due to the obstruction by the dirt walk of the swale that feeds into it from the lodge gutters. Removal of this 

dirt walk and restoration of the swale as proposed (see Lodge Grounds) may require improvement to this drainage opening. 

28 The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, s. V. “Thuja.” 

29 National Cemetery Regulations (1931), 30-31.

30 National Cemetery Regulations (1931), 30-31.

31 National Park Service, National Cemetery Regulations, 36 CFR 12, and Directors Order 61, cross reference to VA

Headstones and Markers, manual M40-3 (1 December 1982), Section 9.01. Manual M40-3 is presently undergoing revision, 

and these provisions are subject to change. These are the criteria applicable to Poplar Grove; see manual for full list of 

replacement criteria, section 9.02. 

32 Headstones and Markers, Figure 4.1.

33 National Cemetery Administration, “Headstones and Markers Pre World War I Era Headstones and Markers” 

webpage, http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmcivil.asp, updated 6 June 2006.

34 Vicky Holly, National Cemetery Administration, e-mail to author, 4 December 2006. Ms. Holly directed further inquiry 

into the reproduction blocks to Gina White in the Program Support Unit, gina.white@va.gov.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

260

35 Petersburg National Battlefield, “Park Review of Draft Cultural Landscape Treatment Plan”, 30 July 2008, 4-5, referring 

to “Phase I Archeological Survey: Rehabilitate Poplar Grove National Cemetery Project” (Prepared for Petersburg National 

Battlefield by A.D. Marble & Company, December 2008).

36 Headstones and Markers, Chapter 7. Current National Cemetery regulations set forth specific policy on grave marker 

inscriptions, but these generally apply to current burials.

37 National Cemetery Regulations (1931), 23-24; Headstones and Markers, Chapter 4, section 11; Bob Kirby, 

Superintendent, Petersburg National Battlefield, e-mail to author, 21 April 2009; Meeting minutes, Petersburg National 

Battlefield, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and National Cemetery Administration, 3 April 2009. 

38 Perunko, 8 June 2009.

39 Although reflecting the historic development of the cemetery, the non-standard fabrication of these pre-1934 

replacement markers, which lack the Civil War shield and have in several cases have poorly executed inscriptions, could be 

perceived as a dishonor. 

40 Bob Kirby, Petersburg National Battlefield Superintendent, e-mail to author, 21 April 2009.

41 An alternative considered for this task but rejected was to inscribe the division letter and section number on the side of 

the grave markers at the corners of each section, on the narrow side of the upright headstone, or on the side of the block.

42 Teri Tillman, “Cemetery Roses Live On,” online article of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, http://www.ggb.org/gar2/

topics/plants/handbooks/roses/3b.html, accessed 5 February 2007.

43 Richard R. Fenska, Tree Experts Manual (New York: A. T. De La Mare Company, 1943), 15-16. 

44 National Cemetery Regulations (1931), 31.

45 National Cemetery Regulations (1931), 31.
160

160

170

170

170

170

170

wio wio

c

wio

c

ch

h

h

yb

[tt]

yb

[wo]

lp

wio

h

wio

ln

ma

ap

h

ln

fc

h

lp

lp

lp

lp

bx

lp

lp

ma

e

sm

lp

ap

[sm]

D

C B

A

F

E

M N

P

O O

O

N

N

O

O

O

N O

O

O

O

bx

O

ca ca

Establish hedgerow

to screen private drive

 (CSA-9, alt. B)

ma

ma

lp

tt

c

lp

h

rm

svm

c

fc

sg

rm h

c 

sm

sg c

c c

c

c

h

c

c

rm

c

c

c c

c

c

c

c

h

cm

c

c

h

hk

c

c

c

wio

ro

wio

bx

bx

h cm

rm h

bx

ma bx

c

c

c

c

c

s [ns] c

c

rm

lp

lp

c

c

c c c c

c

c

c

c

c

c

ma

lp

lp

lp

lp

lp

wio

ro

bx

lp

bx bx

Tree-Shrub Key [ ] = Future replacement species 

ap Austrian pine

bx Boxwood

c Cedar (Eastern red-cedar)

ca Chinese arborvitae

cm Crape myrtle

e Elm (or hackberry)

fc False cypress

h Holly

hc Horsechestnut

hk Hickory

ln Linden 

lp Loblolly pine

ma Magnolia

lp

lp

ap

lp

lp

rm

sm

lp lp

wo

lp

h

wio

e

lp

rm

ns

lp

lp

lp

lp

e sg

e

lp

ns

bx

bx

bx

bx

bx

bx

bx bx bx

(See Table 4.2 for further information) 

ns Norway spruce

pl Plum

po Pin oak

pr Pear

rm Red maple

ro Red oak

s Spruce (blue)

sg Sweet-gum

sm Sugar maple

svm Silver maple

tt Tulip-tree

wio Willow oak

wo Water oak

sm

lp

lp

lp

ma

tt lp

hk

ln

ln

ln

tt

fc

lp

tt

h

sm

h

svm

ln

wio

po

e e

tt

po

Plant boxwoods along 

axial drives (BG-8)

c

ns

ns

Raise canopy

(BG-7)

Plant trees (CI-2)

lp

Lodge Rostrum 

Service Yard (SY)

Ditch

Garage Main drive National Park Service

CSA-7: Remove 

south hedgerow

culvert Private access drive (Blaha)

Field (vineyard)

Blaha

property

Peterson

property

Loblolly 

pines

Peterson

house 

30’ 

Blaha

house 

30’ 

Richardson property

R. Taylor farm

Overhead utlity line

Stone-post corner 

boundary markers 

Lodge Grounds (LG)

Cemetery Inclosure

(CI)

Burial Grounds (BG)

Cemetery Inclosure (CI)

wellhead

Service Drive

SY-2: Plant arborvitae hedge

Reestablish

boxwood allee

(BG-8) 

View of flagstaff

V

Tablet Key

M General Orders No. 80, Sept. 1, 1875 (1)

N Act to Establish and Protect National 

 Cemeteries, February 22, 1867 (4)

O Four-line verses from 

 “The Bivouac of the Dead” (10) 

P “Visitors Notice, Invitation to Register” (1)

Public

restroom

building

lp

SY-1: Reconfigure

service drive

BG-5: Install new 

flagstaff and enhance 

central circle

BG-4: Resurface main 

drive, reestablish circular

alignment to loop

BG-2: Install new 

grave markers

CI-1: Improve drainage

through inclosure wall

Reinstall

tablets (BG-9)

BG-6: Reintroduce three

missing gun monuments

BG-10: Install

benches

po

po

Retain woods

West Woods

Remove non-historic

exterior stairs (SY-5)

SY-4: Return Garage

to historic appearance

See Drawing 4.4 

CI-2: Enhance

North and east

woods

Relocate visitor 

parking Lot (CSA- 8)

See Drawing 9

Remove nonhistoric shed (SY-5)

CI-1: Improve drainage

through inclosure wall

historic limits

of drive

Remove non-historic

signs, add planting bed

(BG-5)

wet area

SY-3: Plant

specimen trees

SY-4

hc

cm

po

wio

ln

sg

ap

wio

ro

po

cm

wio

hc hc

hc

cm

cm

cm

cm

cm

BG-8: Plant shrubs in 

Burial Grounds

Plant crape myrtles

along circular drive

(BG-8)

Filled-in drive ap

CI-2: Enhance

North and East Woods

Cemetery Inclosure (CI)

BG-7: Reestablish historic character 

of burial grounds trees

lp

BG-1: Improve cemetery 

lawn

Add division-section 

markers (typ. location)

(BG-3)

Remove non-historic

trees planted in 

drives/walks (BG-7)

BG-9: Reinstall 

iron tablets

Loblolly pines & mixed deciduous woods

National Park Foundation

R. Taylor

National Park Foundation

See Drawing 4.2 for

 Cemtery Setting &

Approach 

Proposed private

drive realignment 

(CSA-9; see Drawing 4.2)

Drawing 10

Drawing 4.2

Proposed site of

relocated visitor

parking lot (CSA-8)

See Drawing 4.3

CI-3: Establish mown corridor

along inclosure wall

Keep English ivy

away from wall (CI-3)

VViews to field (CSA-2)

Views to field V

Remove trees from 

within drives (BG-7)

Remove non-historic

section markers (BG-3)

Put into agricultural use

or maintain as low meadow (CSA-2)

Keep in agricultural use

or maintain as low meadow

Southeast field

Alt. B

Alt. A

Drive

Drive

Walk

cm

cm

Remove crape

myrtles (BG-8)

Odom Tract

(National Park Foundation)

Blaha property

Plant trees

(CI-2)

Plant trees (CI-2)

CSA-2: Clear West Woods and Reestablish 

Approach View of Cemetery

A-a A-b

A-c A-d

A-e

A-f

B-a

B-b

B-c

B-d

B-e

B-f

B-g

B-h

C-b C-a

C-c C-d

C-e

C-f

C-g

C-h

D-a

D-b

D-c

D-d

D-f

D-e

D-g

E

F

rm

(Block VIII)

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Treatment

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

SOURCES

CLR Period, Existing Conditions, & Analysis Plans

LEGEND

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Feature to remove 

Non-historic features to retain (light grayscale)

New/reintroduced feature 

Property line

Inclosure (perimeter) wall

Grave markers (1 dash = approx. 1 marker)

Cemetery division-section 

Building

Road 

Walk

Gun monument

Iron tablet with key reference

Bench

Fence

Drive markers

Conifer tree 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

Lawn

Naturalized English ivy

10' contour 

Drainage through inclosure wall

Task reference 

Subtask reference

Drawing 4.1

NOTES

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter, Illustrator CS3, 2009

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location. 

2. Treatment assume NPS acquiring interest in property presently 

under private ownership. 

(BG-1)

0’ 25’ 50’ 75’ 100’

BG-1

B-e

O

170

170

160

160

170

lp

x

O

O

National Park Foundation

R. Taylor

V

Vaughan Road

CSA-1: Install new

entrance sign

CSA-5: Replant 

approach road allee

Northwest field

National Park Foundation

Relocate private mailboxes (CSA-9)

Southwest field

(R. Taylor Farm)

CSA-3: Screen

Vaughan Road

(establish hedgerow)

Remove west woods (LS-2)

West Woods

Blaha property 

Service Yard

Lodge Grounds

Private drive

Remove section of

private drive (CSA-9)

Entrance field

5’ 4’ 12’ 4’ 5’

North hedgerow

National Park Service

See Drawing 4.4

See Drawing 4.1

Section A-A

(R. Taylor Farm)

R. Taylor

Blaha

National Park Foundation

CSA-9: Relocate

private drive (alt. B)

Burial

Grounds

Suburban

housing;

developable

land

Remove

triangular

woodlot (CSA-3)

Remove existing 

roadside trees (CSA-3, 5)

See Drawing 4.1

CSA-1: Reestablish

approach view 

of cemetery 

Establish hedgerow

to screen private drive

 (CSA-9, alt. B)

Retain portion

of woodlot for

screening (CSA-3)

Plant Norway

spruce (CSA-5)

CSA-6: Resurface

approach road

Inclosure wall

Inclosure wall

CSA-1: Install new

entrance signs

See Drawing 4.3

Drawing 4.4

Maintain allee understory

as lawn (CSA-5)

Preserve field

Preserve field

Preserve field

CSA-9: Relocate

 private drive (alt. A)

Odom Tract

(National Park Foundation)

Harrison property

See Drawing 4.3

pavement shoulder shoulder allee allee

Section A-A

A

A

25’

35’

100'

OLMSTED

LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Drawing 4.2

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Treatment

Cemetery Setting and

Approach

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with:

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental Science

and Forestry

SOURCES

1. CLR period plans

2. CLR Existing conditions plan

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter

Illustrator CS 3, 2009

NOTES

1. All features shown in approximate 

scale and location.

2. Treatment assumes NPS acquiring 

interest in property presently 

under private ownership.

for

Feature to remove 

Non-historic feature to retain

New/reintroduced feature

Property Line

Grave markers

Building

Road 

Walk

Fence

Lawn

Conifer tree/shrub 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

10’ contour

Task reference 

Subtask reference

CSA-1

LEGEND

0’ 50’

x

Tree species for approach road allee:

American elm (Ulmus americana*)

American linden (Tilia americana)

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Red Maple (Acer rubrum)

Norway spruce (Picea abies) **

Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

* Disease resistant cultivar

** To either side of entrance gates

(CSA-1)

c

Lodge

Service Yard

Public

restroom

building

Remove West Woods (CSA-2)

Plant approach

road allee (CSA-5)

Remove north

end of hedgerow 

(CSA-5)

Remove south

hedgerow (CSA-7)

Add hedge around

cemetery fence

(CSA-4)

Remove parking lot,

return to field (CSA-8)

 

 Corral

R. Taylor Farm

Approach view of 

cemetery

Possible area for new septic field

V

CSA-4: Redesign Odom

cemetery enclosure 

Move fence

(CSA-4)

Limits of potential area

for new septic field

CSA-1: Install new

entrance sign (CSA-1)

 

 

Hedgerow 

10 spaces

Bus parking

10 spaces

Lodge Grounds

See Drawing 4.4

See Drawing 4.1

Odom

cemetery

CSA-8: Relocate Visitor Parking Lot

Preferred Concept:

R. Taylor Corral 

Maintain as 

low meadow

One-way

entrance (CSA-8)

One-way

exit (CSA-8)

Overflow parking

Overflow parking

Entrance field

Southwest field

(R. Taylor Farm)

Plant shrub 

screen (CSA-8)

Cemetery

entrance 

walk (CSA-8)

National Park Service

R. Taylor

National Park Foundation

R. Taylor

0’

OLMSTED

LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Drawing 4.3

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Treatment

Entrance Area 

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with:

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental Science

and Forestry

SOURCES

1. CLR period plans

2. CLR Existing conditions plan

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter

Illustrator CS 3, 2009

NOTES

1. All features shown in approximate 

scale and location.

2. Treatment assumes NPS acquiring 

interest in property presently 

under private ownership.

for

LEGEND

25' 50'

Feature to remove 

Non-historic feature to retain

New/reintroduced feature

Property Line

Grave markers

Building

Road

Walk

Fence

Inclosure wall

Conifer tree/shrub 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

10’ contour

Task reference 

Subtask reference

CSA-1

(CSA-1)

lp

M

N

P

O

pl pl

e

pl

e

rm

ma

Rostrum 

Public

restroom

building

cm

Assembly area

tt

ln

tt

ln

e

bx

bx bx bx

e

LG-8

pr

pl

pr

pr pr pr

svm

Line of sight

bx bx

Relocate drainage (LG-1)

Septic field

to be relocated

cm

bx

ln

LG-3: Remove fence,

plant boxwood hedge

LG-1: Construct new

walk

Remove

fence (LG-3)

Remove

fence (LG-3)

Remove path,

restore grade (LG-1)

Area for

possible

addition

 (LG-6)

tt LG-4: Establish 

new plantings

LG-6: Return public

restroom building

to historic appearance

LG-5: Replant

Maltese cross hedge

LG-7: Return lodge 

to historic appearance

LG-8: Return historic

color scheme to rostrum

LG-2: Install new

cemetery information

wayside

bx

ma ma

cm

cm

Lodge

Create flowerbed

(LG-4)

Main drive Narrow drive

(see BG-4)

Build

accessible

ramp (LG-1)

Reinstall 

iron tablets 

(see BG-9)

OLMSTED

LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Drawing 4.4

Cultural Landscape Report

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery

Petersburg National Battlefield

Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Treatment

Lodge Grounds

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with:

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental Science

and Forestry

SOURCES

1. CLR period plans

2. CLR Existing conditions plan

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter

Illustrator CS 3, 2009

NOTES

1. All features shown in approximate 

scale and location.

2. See Drawings 7, 8, 9 for treatment 

of adjoining areas. 

for

Drainage through inclosure wall

LEGEND

0’ 10’ 20’

Feature to remove 

Non-historic feature to retain

New/reintroduced feature

Property Line

Grave markers

Building

Road

Walk

Fence

Inclosure wall

Conifer tree/shrub 

Deciduous tree/shrub 

10’ contour

Task reference key

Subtask reference

LG-1

(LG-1)

Service Yard

See Drawing 4.1

Burial Grounds

See Drawing 4.1

Cemetery Inclosure

See Drawing 4.1

Cemetery Setting 

and Approach

See Drawings 4.2, 4.3

Burial Grounds

See Drawing 4.1

aa American arborvitae

bx Boxwood

cm Crape myrtle 

e Elm (resistent cultivar or hackberry)

ln Linden 

ma Magnolia (southern)

pr Pear

pl Plum (American)

svm Silver maple

tt Tulip-tree

Specimen Tree-Shrub Key

(See Table 4.2 for further information) 

269 

Reference List

primary materials

“National Cemeteries.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, volume 33, issue 195, 

August 1866, 310-322.

National Park Service, Denver Service Center. “Task Directive: Cemetery 

Improvements at Poplar Grove, Petersburg National Cemetery” (PETE D-36). 

Unpublished report, finalized 1 March 1978. 

National Park Service, Petersburg National Battlefield. “Development/Study 

Package Proposal 103” (PETE D-36). Unpublished report, approved 8 November 

1976. 

Olmsted, Frederick Law. Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted: Volume 6. Baltimore: 

The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.

Petersburg Daily Courier. “Celebration To-Day at Poplar Grove,” 30 May 1871, 

page 3, column 4.

Petersburg Daily Post. “River Items,” 28 June 1877, 1; “Poplar Grove National 

Cemetery—Interesting Ceremonies Next Monday,” 7 July 1877, 1.

Petersburg Index and Appeal. “Decoration of Federal Graves,” 31 May 1875, 3; 

“The Poplar Grove Cemetery—A Large Contract Completed,” 6 July 1877, 4. 

Poplar Grove burial register. Transcribed by Betsy Dinger in Access database 

(“Known Burials file”). Petersburg National Battlefield.

Poplar Grove National Cemetery National Park Service administrative records, 

c.1958-1997. Petersburg National Battlefield headquarters (Hickory Hill), 

Petersburg, Virginia.

Poplar Grove National Cemetery National Park Service records, 1933-c.1958. 

National Archives II, College Park, Maryland.

Poplar Grove National Cemetery War Department records, 1866-c.1918. National 

Archives I, Washington, D.C.

Poplar Grove National Cemetery War Department records, c.1918-1933. National 

Archives II, College Park, Maryland. 

REFERENCE LIST
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

270

“Resetting Leaning Headstones.” Park and Cemetery, volume 35, no. 4 (June 

1925), 107.

United States War Department. Military Reservations, National Cemeteries and 

Military Parks Title Jurisdiction Etc.” Washington, D. C.: Government Printing 

Office, Revised Edition, 1916.

United States War Department, Office of the Inspector General. Inspection 

Reports for Poplar Grove National Cemetery, c.1880-c.1918. National Archives I, 

Washington, D. C.

United States War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General. Annual 

Reports of the Quartermaster-General from 1861 to 1866. Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1880. 

United States War Department, Office of the Quartermaster General. Regulations 

for the Government of National Cemeteries. Washington, D. C.: Government 

Printing Office, 1911; revised edition, 1931.

Wyrick, Ray F. “Modernizing Old Sections: Redevelopment Work in Greenwood 

at Rockford.” Park and Cemetery, volume 4, no. 5 (July 1931), 142-143.

secondary materials

Anders, Steven E. “With All Due Honors: A History of the Quartermaster Graves 

Registration Mission,” Quartermaster Professional Bulletin (September 1988). 

Transcript, Petersburg National Battlefield.

Bailey, Liberty Hyde, editor. The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. 1950 

edition.

Ben Bagwell. “Poplar Grove Buries Three Unidentified Union Soldiers.” 

Petersburg Progress-Index, 27 May 2003.

The City of Petersburg: Metropolis of Southside Virginia. N.p.: Louise Studio, 

c.1930. Petersburg Public Library.

Conway, Martin A. “A History of Petersburg National Battlefield 1957-1982.” 

Unpublished report, National Park Service History Program, 1983. 

Dinger, Betsy. “Poplar Grove National Cemetery Program.” Presentation 

transcript, 2005. Petersburg National Battlefield.
271 

Reference List

Dolinsky, Paul. “Historic American Landscapes Survey.” Vineyard: An Occasional 

Record of the National Park Service Historic Landscape Initiative, volume VII, issue 

1, 2006, 11-13.

Fenska, Richard R. Tree Experts Manual. New York: A. T. De La Mare Company, 

1943.

Folwell, William W. “A Soldier’s Church.” American Historical Record, volume 3, 

no. 36 (December 1874), 546-549.

Frye, Keith. Roadside Geology of Virginia. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press 

Publishing Company, 1986.

John Milner Associates. “Petersburg National Battlefield National Register 

Nomination.” 80% Draft, February 2006.

Jones, Richard L. Dinwiddie County: Carrefour of the Commonwealth. Dinwiddie, 

Virginia: Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors, 1976.

Linden-Ward, Blanche. “Cemeteries.” In William H. Tishler, editor, American 

Landscape Architecture: Designers and Places. Washington, D.C.: National Trust 

for Historic Preservation, 1989.

Lykes, Richard Wayne. Petersburg Battlefield. Washington D. C.: National Park 

Service Historical Handbook Series 13, 1951. 

MacCloskey, Monro. Hallowed Ground: Our National Cemeteries. New York: 

Richards Rosen Press, 1968.

McClelland, Linda Flint. Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of 

the National Park Service, 1916 to 1942. Washington, D.C.: Department of the 

Interior, National Register of Historic Places, 1993.

National Cemetery Administration National Shrine Commitment. “Operational 

Standards and Measures.” Unpublished management document, version 2.0 

October 2004.

National Park Service. Poplar Grove National Cemetery interpretive brochure 

(sepia). Not dated. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

272

National Park Service, Mid-Atlantic Region. “Legislative Materials to support 

Acquisition of Additional Acreage for Poplar Grove National Cemetery.” 

Unpublished report, Denver Service Center, 10 February 1978.

National Park Service. “Petersburg National Battlefield Final General 

Management Plan/Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement.” Digital 

version, 2004.

Olsen, Herbert. “Poplar Grove National Cemetery History.” Unpublished report, 

National Park Service, 31 May 1954.

Page, Robert R., Cathy A. Gilbert, and Susan A. Dolan. A Guide to Cultural 

Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques. Washington, D.C.: National 

Park Service, 1998.

Rogers, Elizabeth Barlow. Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History

New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Sammartino, Therese. “National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property 

Documentation Form, Civil War Era National Cemeteries.” Unpublished 

document, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, 1994.

Schultz , Robert. Loblolly Pine: The Ecology and Culture of Loblolly Pine. N.p.: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Handbook 713, December 1997.

Smith, H. Y. and W. S. Rann, editors. History of Rutland County, Vermont with 

Illustrations & Biographical Sketches of Some of Its prominent Men & Pioneers. 

Syracuse: D. Mason & Co., 1886.

Steere, Edward. Shrines of the Honored Dead: A Study of the National Cemetery 

System . N.p.: Department of the Army, Office of the Quartermaster General, 

c.1956. (Originally published as six articles appearing in the Quartermaster 

Review in 1953-54.)

Trowbridge, John, edited by Gordon Carroll. The Desolate South 1865-1866. New 

York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce-Little, Brown and Company, 1956.

United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service 

in cooperation with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Soil Survey 

of Dinwiddie Area, Virginia. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

August 1996.
273 

Reference List

United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Memorial Affairs. 

Headstones and Markers. Washington, D.C.: Manual M40-3, December 1, 1982.

United States Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. 

“National Shrine Commitment: Operational Standards and Measures.” 

Unpublished report, version 2.0, October 2004.

United States Department of Veterans Affairs. “Fact Sheet: The National 

Cemetery Administration.” Unpublished paper, April 2004.

Wallace, Lee A. “A History of Petersburg National Battlefield to 1956.” 

Unpublished report, National Park Service Department of History, 1957.

Writers’ Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Virginia. 

Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion. New York: Oxford Press, 1940.

Writers’ Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Virginia. 

Dinwiddie County, “The Countrey of the Apamatica.” Richmond: Whittet & 

Shepperson for Dinwiddie County School Board, 1942.

Zipf, Catherine. “Marking Union Victory in the South: The Construction of the 

National Cemetery System.” In Cynthia Mills and Pamela H. Simpson, editors, 

Monuments to the Lost Cause: Women, Art, and the Landscapes of Southern 

Memory. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2003.

web pages

Antietam National Battlefield. “Ranger Notebook: Antietam National Cemetery.” 

http://www.nps/gov/archive/anti/cemetary.htm.

Colonial National Historical Park. “Creation of Colonial National Historical 

Park.” http://www.nps/gov/archive/colo/Ythanout/colonhp.html.

“Glossary of Victorian Cemetery Symbolism.” In “Rochester’s History: An 

Illustrated Timeline.” http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-tl/pages/Cem_Symbolism.

html.

Merchant, David. “Memorial Day.” http://www.usmemorialday.org/.

Gettysburg National Military Park. “Gettysburg National Military Park Virtual 

Tour—The National Cemetery.” www.nps.gov/gett/getttour/tstops/tstd4-23.htm .

Phisterer, Frederick. New York in the War of the Rebellion, cited in “50th Engineer 

Regiment Civil War,” New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

274

Center webpage. www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/other/50thEng/ 

50thEngMain/htm.

“This Week in Quartermaster History, 25 November-1 December.” www.

qmmuseum.lee.arm.mil/historyweek/Nov25-1Dec.htm.

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. “The Natural 

Communities of Virginia, Classification of Ecological Community Groups.” 

Second Approximation (Version 2.1). http://www.dcr.virginia. gov/dnh/

ncoverview.htm.

United States Department of Veterans Affairs. “Civil War Era National 

Cemeteries.” Office of Facilities Management Historic Preservation webpage, 23 

March 2000. http://www.va.gov/facmgt/historic/civilwar.asp.

United States Department of Veterans Affairs. “History of Government Furnished 

Headstones and Markers.” hppt://www.cem.va.gov/cem/ hist/hmhist.asp .
275 

Appendix A

aBSTRACT OF tITLE for pOPLAR gROVE National cemetery, C.1866

APPENDIX A

Source: Poplar Grove Records, RG 92, Records of the Quartermaster General, Entry 576, box 57, National Archives I, Washington, D.C. Note that property at the writing of the abstract remained under ownership of Thomas Britton Flower.
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

276
277 

Appendix B

APPENDIX B

Poplar Grove burial location plan, (c.1954)

Source: National Park Service, Technical Information Center, drawing NMP-PET 2037. (Plan does not 

show Division/Section or Block designations.)

See next page for text on plan 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

278
279 

Appendix C

APPENDIX C

Post-1869 burials at Poplar grove national cemetery

The following is a list by year of post-1869 interments at Poplar Grove for veterans of the Civil War and 

subsequent wars (primarily veterans who did not die in combat). This list does not show approximately 

twenty reinterments of Civil War remains made after 1869, the last of which occurred in 2003. (Source: 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery, digital burial record, c.2005.)

Year of Burial # Graves Cemetery Grave Plot Number

1896 1 5588

1897 2 5584, 5585

1914 1 5589

1915 1 5591

1916 (wife 1938) 1 (1) 5592

1918 7 5593 to 5598, 3447A

1919 2 3390A, 5600

1920 1 5601

1924 2 4463A, 5602

1928 1 5603, 2622A

1929 2 2577A, 5604

1932 1 2556A

1934 1 2543A

1935 1 5605

1938 3 2526A, 3398A, 5592

1939 3 3308A, 5606, 5607

1940 5 3902A, 5608-5611

1941 1 5612

1942 1 5613

1944 1 3754A

1946 1 3309A

1948 2 3546A, 2646A

1950 4 1458A, 3725A, 3842A, 3843A

1951 4 1082A, 1153A, 1154A, 5136A

1953 4 1297A, 1459A, 1594A, 1684A

1954 2 2799A, 3422A

1955 1 2070A

1956 5 495A, 1888A, 3370A, 3900A, 4002A

1957 1 3430A
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

280
281 

Appendix D

APPENDIX D

Chronology of government furnished grave markers 

Sources: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Burial and Memorials Website and field examination

 by author at Poplar Grove National Cemetery.

1861 General Orders #75 directs the Quartermaster General to provide headboards at 

each grave, using a wooden board with a rounded top and bearing information that had 

become the standard prior to the war. 

1867 An Act to Establish and Protect National Cemeteries, February 22, 1867, directs 

that each grave in national cemeteries be marked by a small headstone or block.

1873 Secretary of War William W. Belknap adopts the first design for stone grave 

markers in the national cemeteries. These included tablet headstones at known graves, 

and blocks (square posts) at unknown graves. Headstone specifications included 

polished marble or durable stone with a curved top, four inches thick, ten inches wide, 

and thirty-six inches tall, installed at a height of twelve inches above grade. Inscriptions 

included the grave number and uppercase font indicating rank, name, and state. Soon 

after the original specifications were issued, a recessed six-point shield was added to 

the headstone design. The blocks were specified as marble or durable stone, six inches 

square and thirty inches long, installed at four inches above grade; the top and sides 

were polished and the grave number was inscribed on the top, along with the number of 

remains if more than one. The stones were inscribed using the sand-blast method. 

1903 The War Department revises the recessed-shield headstone specifications 

to provide greater durability. This second generation was similar in appearance to the 

first generation recessed-shield headstones, but was larger at twelve inches wide and 

eighteen inches above grade (thirty-nine inches overall); the thickness remained at 4 

inches. The use of blocks for marking unknown graves was discontinued and replaced 

with the same headstone for known graves. The stones were inscribed with tools rather 

than sand blasting. The earlier headstones may have been raised around this time to 18 

inches above grade, and the blocks, 6 inches. In subsequent years, the second-generation 

recessed-shield headstones were produced in two variants with differing uppercase fonts 

(identified by Petersburg National Battlefield as styles A and B).

1922 The War Department authorizes the General headstone for marking graves 

of World War I veterans. The new specifications were for an upright white marble 

headstone with a rounded top measuring thirteen inches wide, four inches thick, and 

forty-two inches long installed approximately twenty-four inches above grade. The 

recessed inscription included name, rank, regiment, division, date of death, state, and an 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

282

emblem of belief (limited to a Latin cross or Jewish star until the late 1940s), without a 

recessed shield. (The General headstone remains the standard national cemetery marker 

to the present.)

1936 In response to burials at private lawn-style cemeteries where upright headstones 

were not allowed, the War Department introduces specifications for a white marble 

ledger stone known as a government flat marker. This marker was set flush in the ground 

and measured twenty-four inches long, twelve inches wide, and four inches thick with a 

recessed inscription matching that of the General headstone. Flat markers were also used 

at some national cemeteries. 

1939 The War Department introduces use of granite for flat markers. 

1940 The War Department introduces bronze flat markers for the graves of Medal of 

Honor recipients. 

1973 The War Department redesigns the style of the bronze flat marker.

2005 Around this time, the Department of Veterans Affairs reintroduces production 

of the recessed-shield headstones to mark the graves of Civil War Union and SpanishAmerican War dead. The specifications were not an exact replica, and allowed for added 

inscriptions such as date of death.
283 

Appendix E

Approach Road The road leading to the main cemetery entrance (also 

called “approach roadway”).

Bronze Shield The bronze plaque affixed to one of the gun 

 monuments (cannon) showing date of cemetery 

 establishment and burial record tally.

Burial Record The official record of all burials in the cemetery; 

 following a running numbering system based on order 

 of burial recording the name, rank, and service. 

Block A low, square post used to mark the graves of unknown 

soldiers of the Civil War; marble.

Division The major organization of the graves; subdivided into 

 sections.

Drives The primary internal circulation features of the 

 cemetery intended for vehicles. 

Flagstaff The flagpole, usually at the center of the cemetery.

Flagstaff Mound The raised ground from which the flagstaff rises.

Gov’t. Flat Marker A ledger-style grave marker issued by the federal 

government beginning in 1936 to mark veteran graves.

Gov’t Headstone An upright slab grave marker issued by the federal 

government, first specified in 1873 for Civil War 

veterans. 

Grave Mound The mound of earth placed upon a newly dug grave, 

 intended to serve as fill as the grave sank due to 

 decomposition.

Gun Monument Upright cannon, typically placed near the flagstaff 

four at larger cemeteries, one at smaller cemeteries; 

usually ornamented by a pile of shot and a cannonball 

finial.

Gutter An earthen or brick-lined drainage swale along drives 

 and walks.

Headboard A temporary grave marker made of painted wood, 

 height of eighteen inches above grade; used by 

 the federal government to mark Civil War graves prior 

Appendix E

Standard features of civil war-era National cemeteries

Sources: Quartermaster General, Regulations for the Government of National Cemeteries (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1911 and 1913), and National Cemetery quarterly report forms (1913-1937). 
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

284

 to 1873; subsequently also erected immediately after 

 interment if a headstone was not available. 

Inclosure The perimeter area of a national cemetery, usually,

 encompassing a stone or brick wall. 

Inclosure Wall The perimeter wall enclosing the burial grounds; 

usually stone or brick.

Lodge The residence of the cemetery superintendent.

Monument A grave marker or other commemorative feature.

Non-Gov’t. Headstone A headstone not furnished by the federal government 

(also referred to as private headstones or markers).

Outbuilding The cemetery utility building; also known as the 

stable-toolshed or garage.

Rostrum A bandstand or structure used for addresses.

Sections Subdivisions within a Division of a cemetery.

Settees Benches.

Shot Cannonballs in pyramidal form adjoining the gun 

monuments. 

Tablets Rectangular iron placards with raised text, mounted on 

 low poles; also used to refer to Gettysburg Address 

 plaque affixed to Lodges.

Walks Secondary internal circulation for pedestrians, usually 

between grave rows. 

Other Cemetery Terminology

Footstone A grave marker at the foot of a grave.

Grave Marker A term for a monument used to mark a grave.

Gravestone A general term for a headstone, footstone, or other grave 

marker made of stone.

Headstone A grave marker at the head of the grave.

Ledger Stone A grave marker laid flush with the ground.

Tablet A slab-type upright headstone (term also used for iron 

signs in national cemeteries). 
285 

Appendix F

APPENDIX F

Sample quarterly report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

Source: Poplar Grove Records, National Archives
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

286
287 

Appendix F
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

288
289 

Appendix G

chronological list of plantings at poplar grove national cemetery

Notes: Compiled from cemetery records.

Plantings are listed by names used in cemetery records. 

List includes plantings within the cemetery and along the approach road.

Plantings listed in italics are those that already existed in the cemetery by the listed date.

Number of plants, if known, indicated in parentheses. 

Condition, location, and other information noted in brackets

1868

Loblolly pine (approx. 180) [Retained existing second-growth forest trees]

Cedars [Probably Eastern red-cedar]

Poplar [Probably white poplar]

Weeping willow 

1869

Cedars (approx. 1,000) [Probably Eastern red-cedar]

Flower plants (approx. 250) [Annuals]

Shrubs (approx. 50) [Species not indicated]

Weeping willow (50) [From cuttings]

1870

Flower plants (380) [Mostly annuals]

Roses (50 bushes) [Scattered around the cemetery]

1871

Annual flowers

Ornamental trees and shrubs (approx. 475)

Second-growth pine trees (approx. 150) [Loblolly pine]

Ash (5)

Beech, purple (5)

Boxwood (100) [For hedges]

Cedar (7) [Probably arborvitae]

Hornbeam, English (12)

Horsechestnut (16)

Fir, balsam (7)

Kentucky coffee tree (4)

Larch, American (6)

Linden (6)

Magnolia (12) [Variety not indicated]

Maple, ash leaved (20) [Box elder; doing poorly 4/1871]

Maple, silver leaf (8)

Maple, sugar (9) [Doing poorly 4/1871]

Oak (8) [Probably pin, water, and/or willow oak]

APPENDIX G
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

290

Osage orange (4,042) [Perimeter hedge; doing well 4/1871 but requires 

 450 replacement plants]

Poplar, silver (5) [White poplar]

Spruce, Norway (21) [Doing poorly 4/1871]

Spruce, white (18) [Doing poorly 4/1871]

Willow (14) [Variety not indicated]

1872

Roses

Trees and Shrubs [150 doing well, 184 “making little progress”]

1874

Elms [Growing vigorously]

Flowerbeds [Around lodge and flagstaff mound]

1876

Cedars, red [Some “trimmed in fancy shapes”]

1878

Sylvan Hall elms [Doing well, 5/2/1878]

Bed of shrubs and ornamental plants surrounding flagstaff mound

1879

The following were transplanted from nearby woods and planted along 

the approach road:

 Maples 

 Tulip-trees 

1881

Maples [Along approach road, “not thrifty”]

Tulip-trees [Along approach road, “showing signs of thrift”]

1882

Box hedge [Surrounding service area inside of lattice fence; doing poorly]

The following were replacement trees set out along the approach road at 

twenty-five foot spacing:

 American elm

 Ash

 Linden 

 Maple

1885

Cedars (Numerous)

Elms (Large plantation) [Sylvan Hall]

Fruit trees [Planted by the soldiers in 1864]

Loblolly pines [Large]

Osage orange hedge [Clipped in wedge shape]
291 

1888

Arborvitae, Oriental [Replacement of boxwood hedge around service 

 yard]

English ivy [Approximate date of planting along inside of perimeter wall]

Balsam fir

Cedars

Elms [Sylvan Hall] 

Maple

Norway spruce

Osage orange hedge

Willow [Roots damaging well in service yard]

Yellow pine (“Many fine”) [Loblolly pine]

1892

Plan by Quartermaster General documents following vegetation within 

the cemetery:

 Deciduous trees (Approx. 220)

 Coniferous trees (Approx. 189)

 Shrubs

 Screening hedge [Around service yard, arborvitae]

 Hedge [Between Divisions D and E; boxwood] 

 Low hedge or border planting [Around perimeter of driveway 

 circle, walk from lodge to Division F; species not known]

 Boxwood hedge in shape of Maltese cross [In front of lodge]

 Flowerbeds [Rectangular bed off circular turn-around, circular 

 bed around flagstaff mound]

1931

Flowerbeds (2) [Near lodge]

Grape arbor

Peonies

Plum trees (5)

Roses

Silver maple [Near public restroom, scheduled for removal]

Following trees planted in May 1931 through contract with Henkels & 

McCoy, Germanton, Pennsylvania. Approximately one-third of the trees 

were planted along the approach road.

 American elm (20)

 American holly (6)

 American linden (12)

 Austrian pine (4)

 European mountain ash (10)

 Norway maple (23) 

Appendix G
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

292

 Norway spruce (6)

 Pin oak (20)

1932

The following inventory taken from the Office of the Quartermaster 

General assessment of pruning needs for Poplar Grove trees, made on 25 

February 1932, author not known. Trees identified as “small” probably 

planted under 1931 contract (no definition given for “large” and “small”).

 Deciduous

 American elm (40 large)

 European linden (6 large)

 Hickory (3 large)

 Hop hornbeam(1 large)

 Horsechestnut (1 large)

 Mountain ash (2 large)

 Mulberry (1 small)

 Norway maple (3 large)

 Oaks (12 small) [Probably pin oak]

 Pear (1 large)

 Red maple (12 large)

 Silver maple (4 large)

 Spanish oak (4 small) [No previous record of Spanish oaks]

 Tuliptree (13 large) 

 Water oak (1 large)

 Willow oak (2 large)

 Evergreen

 American holly (8 large)

 Arborvitae hedge (1)

 Austrian pine (3 small) 

 Boxwood (39 large)

 Dwarf black spruce (2 large)

 Mugho pine (1 small)

 Myrtle (6 large)

 Norway spruce (4 large)

 Red cedar (3 large)

 Retinospora [false cypress; probably Chamaecyperis obtusa] (1 

 large)

 Southern magnolia (3 large)

 Virginia [Loblolly] pine (17 large)

1933

Flowerbeds
293 

Ivy

1934

Report of February 13, 1934 indicates 169 trees in cemetery.

C.W.A. crews removed seven elms, one maple, one linden

 Arborvitae

 Cedar

 Elms [Showing signs of malnutrition]

 Maples

 Oaks

 Pines

1937

Cedars, red (approx. 100), planted within cemetery and outside of 

enclosing wall.

The following existing vegetation, excluding the approach road allee, 

documented on “Proposed Planting at Poplar Grove National Cemetery” 

(National Park Service, 1937):

 

 Mature trees

 Cedar (2)

 Elm (11)

 Sweet Gum (1)

 Holly (3)

 Hemlock (2)

 Horsechestnut (1)

 Magnolia (2)

 Maple (7) [Red and silver] 

 Pine (17) [Loblolly pine]

 Plum (3)

 Peach (1)

 Poplar (1)

 Spruce (3)

 Turkey oak (1)

 Water oak (2)

 

 Young trees (Total: approximately 75)

 Cedar

 Maple

 Holly

 Spruce

Pine

Other

Appendix G
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

294

English ivy [On enclosing wall]

Arborvitae hedge [Around service yard, 8-feet high]

Boxwood shrubs [Between Divisions D and E]

1941

The following trees are documented on Poplar Grove Master Plan 

(National Park Service, c.1941); plan reflects plantings by War 

Department in 1931 and red-cedar trees planted in 1937. Measurements 

indicates range of trunk diameter at breast height.

 Total deciduous: 137; total evergreen: 156

 American elm (Ulmus americana) small-26” (40) 

 Arborvitae, oriental (Thuja orientalis) 5” (1 specimen, plus 8’ 

 hedge)

 Ash (Fraxinus americana) 3”-22” (7)

 Buckeye (Aesculus octandra) 16”(1) [Buckeye]

 Foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana) 6” (2)

 Hickory (Hicoria [sic] ovata) 18” (1)

 Holly (Ilex ofaca) 1”-14” (4)

 Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) 14” (1)

 Linden (Tilia americana) small--20” (8)

 Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) small-36” (28)

 Norway spruce (Picea abies) 3” (3)

 Pear (Pyrus communis) 10” (1)

 Pin oak (Quercus palustris) 4”-6” (23)

 Plum (Pyrus americana) 7”-9” (3)

 Poplar (Populus alba) 13”-36” (16)

 Red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) small-16” (115)

 Red maple (Acer rubrum) small-30” (33)

 Red spruce (Picea rubra) 3”-18” (3)

 Scrub pine (Pinus banksiana) 6” (1) [Jack pine]

 Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) 21”-30” (3)

 Water oak (Quercus nigra) 30” (1)

 White cedar (American arborvitae) Thuja occidentalis, 25” (1)

 Willow oak (Quercus phellos) 30” (2)

1962

NPS Office of Resource Planning documented the following vegetation 

within the cemetery:

 Evergreen trees (20)

 Deciduous trees (37)

 Hedge [Around service area]

 Boxwood hedge [Between Divisions D and E]
295 

2006 Existing Conditions

Trees

Cherry (Prunus sp.)

Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens glauca)

Eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Holly (Ilex ofaca)

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)

Pignut hickory (Carya glabra) 

Red maple (Acer rubrum)

Red oak (Quercus rubra)

Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) 

Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipfera) 

White-cedar or false cypress (Chamaecyparis thyoides)

Willow oak (Quercus phellos)

Yellow birch (Betula alleghanienses) 

Shrubs

Crape myrtle(Lagerstroemia indica) 

Common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)

Groundcover

Grass

English ivy [outside of inclosure wall] (Hedera helix)

Approach Road Trees

Eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana

Linden (Tilia americana)

Red maple (Acer rubrum)

Appendix G
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

296
297 

select chronology of poplar grove national cemetery

June 4, 1838 Jordan and Francis Floyd sell a 450-acre portion of their farm or

plantation bordering Vaughan Road, including the future site of the national 

cemetery, to Benjamin H. Coupland.

March 21, 1843 Benjamin and Lucy Coupland sell the 450-acre farm to Isaac Roney.

September 30, 1844 Isaac and Mary Roney sell the 450-acre farm to Joseph A. Sydnor.

December 2, 1852 Joseph and Mary Sydnor sell the 450-acre farm to Juliana Dorsey.

March 21, 1855 Juliana Dorsey sells the 450-acre farm to John Flower.

April 25, 1856 John and Mary Ann Flower sell the 450-acre farm to Reverend Thomas Brinton 

Flower, probably John’s father or brother.

April 12, 1861 Civil War begins with attack on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina.

July 17, 1862 In context of rising war fatalities, Congress passes act giving the President 

authority to purchase land for national cemeteries.

June 15-18, 1864 Opening battle in Petersburg Campaign.

August 18-21, 1864 Union victory in Battle of Weldon Railroad; Union siege-line fortifications begin 

to extend westward, built mostly under direction of the 50th New York Volunteer 

Engineers.

Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 1864 Union victory at Battle of Peeble’s Farm (Battle of Poplar Springs Church); left 

flank extended to Fort Fisher, approximately two miles west of the Flower Farm. 

Oct.-Nov. 1864 Engineers working intensively building and strengthening the siege-line 

fortifications of the western flank.

Late October 1864 Engineers’ camp moved to the Flower Farm. Initial structures were tents and log 

barracks. 

Nov. 1864-March 1865 Relative period of inactivity for Engineers; they develop camp facilities, notably 

rustic officers’ quarters and Poplar Grove Church, the latter designed by Captain 

Appendix H

APPENDIX H
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

298

Michael H. McGrath and dedicated on March 6, 1865. Named in honor of the 

Poplar Springs Church, destroyed in the Battle of Peebles Farm.

March 29, 1864 Engineers break camp to take part in the final thrust against the Confederate 

defense of Petersburg, and then in the Appomattox Campaign.

April 2, 1865 Confederates abandon Petersburg. 

April 9, 1865 Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House, end of the Civil War.

April 17, 1866 Initial request by Lt. Colonel James M. Moore to the Secretary of War for 

authority to select sites for the establishment of national cemeteries near 

Petersburg and Richmond. 

April 30, 1866 Secretary of War gives Lt. Colonel Moore authority to select sites for national 

cemeteries near Petersburg. 

May 1866 Lt. Colonel Moore selects the campgrounds of the 50th New York Volunteer 

Engineers on the Flower Farm as the site of a national cemetery. He also selects 

a site at City Point for a second national cemetery near Petersburg. Poplar Grove 

and City Point are two of nine Civil War national cemeteries established in the 

Virginia district; others included Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Hampton, Richmond, 

Staunton, Winchester, and Yorktown National Cemeteries. Survey and abstract of 

title prepared for Poplar Grove. 

May 21, 1866 By this date, Lt. General Moore reports that work had begun on bringing remains 

from surrounding battlefields to the cemetery at Poplar Grove. Work performed 

by a burial corps under the supervision of acting Superintendent Major William S. 

Johnson, a discharged officer of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry. 

June 1, 1866 Work begun on the cemetery at Poplar Grove by this date, although the 

Quartermaster General does not record the cemetery as “commenced” in its 

annual report ending June 30, 1866 (probably meaning that burials had not 

begun). 

July 18, 1866 By this date, burials have begun within Poplar Grove according to cemetery plan 

consisting of concentric circles around a central, mounded wood flagstaff. Most 

of the buildings from the engineers’ camp had been removed except for Poplar 

Grove Church and some log barracks along the south boundary. Some of the 

buildings may have been relocated to outside the cemetery boundary.

February 22, 1867 Congress passes “Act to Establish and to Protect National Cemeteries.”
299 

June 10, 1867 Burial work is substantially complete. By this time, 5,196 bodies had been interred 

at the cemetery, and a five-foot high paling fence had been erected around the 

perimeter. Work is underway on sodding the grave mounds and central mound, 

gravelling the walks, installing white-painted wood headboards, and building 

drains. 

August 6, 1867 August Miller is appointed the first superintendent of the cemetery, replacing 

Acting Superintendent Major William S. Johnson; law requires position to be filled 

by disabled veteran.

September 1867 Burial corps completes construction of a wood lodge at southwest corner of 

original cemetery parcel, on north side of entry drive in Division E.

October 1867 Burial corps completes laying almost 12,000 feet of brick gutters, and graveling of 

the walks and avenues. 

November 27, 1867 Superintendent Miller receives authority to add an additional acre to the 

cemetery.

February 29, 1868 244 bodies interred since June 10, 1867; totals to date: 5,440 bodies in 5,033 

graves. 

April 3, 1868 The federal government acquires title in fee simple to the 8.13-acre cemetery tract 

from Rebecca T. Flower, widow of Rev. Thomas B. Flower, for appraised value of 

$1,500. Property includes original 7.13-acre rectangular plot and additional acre at 

southwest corner for site of proposed new lodge and Division F. 

March-April 1868 Burial corps removes Poplar Grove Church from the cemetery during this time. 

Site is reused for burials. Church purportedly sold and temporarily re-erected in 

Central Park, New York City.

July 25, 1868 Report of final disposition of remains at Poplar Grove submitted to Quartermaster 

General Montgomery Meigs. 

Fall 1868 Four 32-pounder cannons and 84 projectiles (shot) are transferred to the 

cemetery from Fort Monroe (Hampton, Virginia) to serve as gun monuments.

December 15, 1868 Deed for the 8.13-acre cemetery property, purchased from the Flower family by 

the federal government for $1,500, is entered in Dinwiddie County records. 

Appendix H
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

300

Winter 1869 The burial corps transplants 1,200 small cedar trees to the cemetery from the 

neighboring fields.

February 1869 The four gun monuments received the previous fall are installed along the outer 

edge of the central drive encircling the flagstaff. 

March 31, 1869 469 bodies interred in cemetery since February 1868; totals to date: 5,909 bodies 

in 5,292 graves.

June 30, 1869 The burial corps at Poplar Grove National Cemetery is disbanded. Since July 

1866, the burial corps had interred a total of 6,142 Union soldiers, 36 Confederate 

soldiers, and five civilians; only thirty-five percent were positively identified. 

July-Aug. 1869 The perimeter paling fence is extended around the one-acre expansion.

October 1869 A frame tool shed is constructed in the service yard.

November 30, 1869 Log barracks from the engineers’ camp, located opposite the frame lodge 

(probably in Division F), are taken down and the ground leveled. 

May 30, 1870 Advertisements are published soliciting bids for construction of a new brick lodge, 

designed according to a standard plan by General Montgomery Miegs.

August 16, 1870 James R. Dobbyn is awarded the contract for a new brick lodge. Work begins 

on August 31, cellar hole is dug on the north side of entry drive in the one-acre 

addition (present service yard). Contractor defaults. 

January 1871 Major planting program begins; shipment of trees and shrubs arrives. Planting 

probably includes a boxwood hedge along the walk between Divisions E and D, 

and a flowerbed framed by boxwood borders in the shape of a Maltese cross in 

front of the lodge.

March 1871 Planting of the perimeter Osage orange hedge is completed along inside of 

perimeter fence.

April 26, 1871 A new bid by Kyran A. Murphy accepted for construction of lodge; specification 

changed to stone instead of brick, and a new site is selected on south side of entry 

drive.

May 1871 A “Sylvan Hall” of 110 elm trees is planted in the form of a cross or gothic church, 

following a standard Quartermaster Department plan. 
301 

October 24, 1871 Murphy begins work on the stone lodge; majority of the work is completed by 

January 1872.

1871-1872 The wood culverts (drain boxes) are replaced with grass swales and French 

(gravel) drains. 

1872-1874 The gravel surface of the walks and drives is replaced by grass.

March 30, 1872 The stone lodge is completed. Around this time, a circular turn-around is added to 

the east of the lodge. 

June 1872 Superintendent Miller relocates the old frame lodge to rear of new lodge as a 

kitchen wing.

August 1872 Forty-five bodies have been interred in cemetery since disbanding of the burial 

corps in June 1869; totals to date: 6,187 bodies in 5,562 graves.

Fall 1873 Work begins on a combination wood toolshed-stable across the road from the 

lodge.

July 1873 The wood flagstaff is taken down due to decay.

Fall 1873 Construction of a brick enclosing wall is awarded to B. F. Childrey & Company, 

which begins manufacture of bricks in two kilns adjoining the cemetery; 100,000 

bricks made by December 12, 1873, but construction of wall not begun by that 

date. Bricks are rejected by the Quartermaster Department. 

1874 Childrey defaults on the contract for the enclosing wall; project stalls for two 

years. 

May 19, 1874 J. C. Comfort of Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania, installs a new wood flagstaff, fiftysix feet tall. The flagstaff mound is reduced from forty feet in diameter and six feet 

high, to twenty-three feet in diameter and four feet high.

May 22, 1876 A new contract for the brick enclosing wall is awarded to John Brennon and 

Archibald L. Hutton of Washington, D. C., per advertisement of February 1, 1876. 

Plans call for brick wall with Ohio sandstone pilaster caps.

1876-1877 Resurvey of the cemetery boundaries is made as part of wall construction project, 

in order to secure a ten-foot buffer around the wall; survey discloses that the 

original survey was inaccurate, and plans are made for acquiring strips of land 

from the adjoining Flower and Farley farms. 

Appendix H
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

302

June 22, 1876 Brennon & Hutton begin work on the enclosing wall; bricks are shipped to 

Petersburg by schooner from Alexandria, Virginia. The project includes a gateway 

of granite piers and iron gates.

September 31, 1876 The brick enclosing wall and gates are completed at a cost of $10,187. 

October 5, 1876 Superintendent August Miller is replaced by H. C. Lacy.

April 30, 1877 Deeds executed for corrected survey of the cemetery, which included the addition 

of a half-acre buffer strip around the perimeter: Francis B. Farley through 

J. Wesley Friend, Special Commissioner, to United States, 0.0919 of an acre, 

$30; Deed, Flowers [sic] & others through J. Wesley Friend, 0.5019 of an acre, 

“together with a right of way over and along the road as at present used from the 

public road to the said National Cemetery, and running over the land belonging to 

the said Flowers,” $70.

June 7, 1877 Quartermaster Engineer James Gall visits Poplar Grove to arrange for replacing 

headboards with headstones and blocks. Test digging is begun to determine the 

location of coffins. Work calls for leveling a large number of grave mounds that 

remain. 

September 13, 1877 Setting of stone property boundary markers (posts) is begun according to the 

revised and enlarged boundary. Grading of grave mounds is begun in preparation 

for installing headstones and blocks. 

July 7, 1877 Installation of recessed-shield white marble headstones and unknown blocks 

completed at a cost of about $15,500; contract specified either “known” stone at 

$3.39 (headstone) or an “unknown” stone at $2.42 (block). 

Spring 1878 Poplar Grove acquires a horse-drawn lawn mower, supplementing hand mowers 

and scythes.

Fall 1878 The brick gutters along the drives are filled and turfed; the approach road from 

Vaughan Road is improved and trees, taken from nearby forests, are planted along 

both sides as an allee.

July 1879 A brick toolshed-stable (barn) is built in the service area (site of current garage), 

replacing the earlier wooden shed. Around the same time, Superintendent Lacy 

builds a new kitchen behind the lodge out of refuse bricks from the wall, and 

removes the old frame kitchen wing on the lodge.
303 

Spring 1882 Replacement trees are planted in approach road allee.

1889 Iron steps installed at flagstaff mound, replacing wood ones.

April 30, 1890 Superintendent Lacy is replaced by E. L. Grant.

1890 Around this time, the perimeter Osage orange hedge is removed. 

1891 Superintendent Grant begins efforts to erect a rostrum for Memorial Day 

observances.

1892 Most of the American elms in the Sylvan Hall are removed by this time.

January 31, 1893 Superintendent Grant is replaced by Acting Superintendent B. S. Baldwin, 

followed by Acting Superintendent A. D. Sullivan.

December 12, 1893 Richard B. Hill is appointed Superintendent. 

1895 Around this time, a two-seat privy is built in the service yard.

November 5, 1895 Superintendent Hill is replaced by John Laun.

Summer 1896 Work begins on the rostrum and completed on January 2, 1897.

1900 Around this time, a brick “cave” (function not known) is built to the rear of the 

brick kitchen against the enclosing wall, and the grass surface of the main drive is 

replaced by gravel. 

1901 Twenty-three bodies have been interred at the cemetery since August 1872, 

bringing total burials to 6,210, in 5,584 graves. 

1903 The War Department issues new specifications for recessed-shield headstones 

to provide a more durable marker; use of unknown blocks is discontinued. 

Headstones may have been raised to eighteen inches above grade around this 

time.

July 31, 1903 Superintendent Laun is replaced by T. H. Savage

July 27, 1904 Superintendent Savage is replaced by J. H. Osborne.

December 1, 1904 Superintendent Osborne is replaced by Richard B. Hill.

Appendix H
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

304

April 16, 1908 Superintendent Hill is replaced by Acting Superintendent H. L. Perkinson.

May 18, 1908 George Hess is appointed Superintendent.

June 11, 1910 Superintendent Hess is replaced by Acting Superintendent P. M. Brist.

August 4, 1910 Robert R. Dye is appointed Superintendent.

1911 The government erects a barbed-wire fence on both sides of the approach road, 

along the outer side of the allee.

1912 The Quartermaster Department is reorganized as the Quartermaster Corps; 

administration of Poplar Grove is shifted from the Washington Depot to the 

Quartermaster Third Corps Area, Baltimore.

May 29, 1913 Superintendent Dye is replaced by Theodore W. B. Brake.

1913 The wood flagstaff erected in 1874 is replaced by an iron flagstaff. The flagstaff 

mound is probably removed at this time. 

August 1914` A proposal is introduced for the federal government to acquire land along the 

approach road (right-of-way) and adjacent to cemetery; proposal defeated. 

November 1914 A new stucco-faced kitchen wing is built at the rear of the lodge, replacing the 

kitchen outbuilding constructed of refuse bricks in c.1879.

December 14, 1914 Superintendent Brake is replaced by James W. Bodley.

July 30 and Aug. 2, 1915 Two storms topple 139 trees, break forty headstones, and tear off the roof of the 

toolshed-stable. 

June 22, 1917 Superintendent Bodley is replaced by Acting Superintendent J. J. Blaha. 

July 17, 1917 W. P. Kinter is appointed Superintendent.

December 16, 1918 Superintendent Kinter is replaced by Acting Superintendent Robert Hill.

February 1, 1919 William Davis is appointed Superintendent.

September 2, 1919 Superintendent Davis is replaced by J. B. Lovelace.
305 

1922 The War Department issues a new headstone known as the General to 

differentiate veterans of World War I. 

September 8, 1922 Superintendent Lovelace is replaced by Acting Superintendent J. J. Blaha.

January 27, 1923 John F. Tallman is appointed Superintendent.

1924 New concrete bases built for the gun monuments and shot. 

April 11, 1926 Superintendent Tallman is replaced by Joseph A. Bobber.

August 6, 1927 Superintendent Bobber is replaced by Acting Superintendent J. J. Blaha.

November 17, 1927 Charles E. Jackson is appointed Superintendent.

August 10, 1929 A brick and stucco utility building (public restroom) is built at the rear of the 

lodge. The building was designed by Quartermaster Supply Officer, Washington 

General Depot and constructed under contract to H. Herfurth, Jr., Inc., of 

Washington, D. C.

October 10, 1929 A brick and stucco stable-garage in the service yard is completed; it replaced 

the old toolshed-stable and privy. The building was designed by Quartermaster 

Supply Officer, Washington General Depot and constructed under contract to H. 

Herfurth, Jr., Inc., of Washington, D. C.

October 1930 A new iron flagstaff is erected, replacing one installed in 1913. It is approximately 

eighty feet tall, anchored by four guy wires.

1931 Improvements are begun on the lodge; exterior work includes replacement of 

slate roof with a standing seam metal roof and installation of concrete floor in the 

front porch.

April 16, 1931 Remains of twenty-nine Union soldiers recovered from the Crater Battlefield on 

March 28-29, 1931 are reinterred at Poplar Grove. 

May 18, 1931 Work is completed on planting 101 trees in the cemetery and along the approach 

road according to plans by the Office of the Quartermaster, Headquarters, Third 

Corps Area, Baltimore; trees planted under contract by Henkels & McCoy of 

Germantown, Pennsylvania. 

May 22, 1931 Asphalt paving of the approach road and main drive is completed under contract 

to the Bituminous Roads Company of Ashland, Virginia.

Appendix H
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

306

Fall 1931 A gasoline-powered lawn mower is acquired; the horse and horse-drawn lawn 

mower are disposed. 

December 12, 1931 Superintendent Jackson is replaced by Acting Superintendent William

H. Green.

January 7, 1932 Walter J. Pearce is appointed Superintendent.

January 3, 1933 Superintendent Pearce is replaced by Felix E. Kavanagh, serving an “in-charge” 

position.

August 10, 1933 Poplar Grove National Cemetery is transferred from the War Department to 

National Park Service, along with Petersburg National Military Park. William H. 

Green is appointed acting cemetery superintendent.

August 23, 1933 Poplar Grove National Cemetery and Petersburg National Military Park are 

placed under the administration of Colonial National Monument, Yorktown, 

Virginia.

September 5, 1933 Benjamin F. Moore is appointed cemetery superintendent, the first cemetery 

superintendent appointed under the National Park Service. 

1933-1941 The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and other federal public work agencies 

supplement work force at Poplar Grove. 

January 16, 1934 B. Floyd Flickinger, Superintendent of Colonial National Monument, receives 

concurrence from the War Department for altering the headstones and blocks 

into flat markers. 

February-March 1934 Upright headstones are cut at ground level and placed flush with the ground; 

headstone bases are temporarily stacked in the cemetery. Blocks are sunk flush 

with the ground.

June 5, 1934 Superintendent Moore submits a six-year program of federal construction for 

Poplar Grove. 

July 23, 1934 The National Park Service Acting Associate Director authorizes sale of the 

headstone bases.

December 1935 Administration of Poplar Grove National Cemetery is placed under the recently 

appointed Superintendent, Petersburg National Military Park.
307 

1936 The War Department issues specifications for white-marble flat markers, initially 

intended for use in private lawn-style cemeteries.

March 1937 CCC crews plant 115 Eastern red-cedar trees in and around the cemetery; a 

wood post and barbed-wire fence is erected along property line to protect cedars 

planted on the outside of the wall from livestock.

September 1937 CCC crews complete work on repairing the cemetery wall.

1939 The first flat marker (instead of an altered headstone) is installed at Poplar Grove 

(grave #1745).

March 1939 Work is completed on bringing electricity to the lodge; line enters the southwest 

corner of the cemetery from the Blaha farmhouse. A new cover is installed on the 

well in the service yard, replacing a well house.

1941 The Poplar Grove component of the Petersburg National Military Park master 

plan is completed; includes an illustrated plan of the cemetery and a planting plan. 

Probably at this time, circular metal inventory tags are installed on specimen trees.

Spring 1942 Diseased and dead trees are removed from the cemetery (number not specified).

1943 Cemetery drain pipes are replaced (locations not specified).

September 30, 1949 Superintendent Moore retires; position of cemetery superintendent is abolished; 

maintenance of Poplar Grove is transferred to the maintenance staff of Petersburg 

National Military Park.

1954 Petersburg National Battlefield Historian Herbert Olsen completes the first 

history of Poplar Grove National Cemetery; the National Park Service Regional 

Design and Construction Office completes a Historical Land Status Map for 

Poplar Grove.

1956 By this time, the MISSION 66 Prospectus for Petersburg National Battlefield is 

completed; it includes an item of $11,200 for improvement of grave markers at 

Poplar Grove. 

Spring 1957 A general rehabilitation project is completed as part of a $17,500 program of 

improvements. A new entrance sign is installed; the lawn is leveled and cleaned; 

and flat headstones are raised above grade to improve visibility. Probably at 

this same time, a new cemetery plan/burial locater is drafted; old division and 

Appendix H
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

308

section classification is replaced with twenty block designations. A new block is 

established on the east side of Division F (Block XX). The radial drives, except 

for the main drive, are identified by letters A through F on small iron signs around 

the central circle. The cemetery plan, burial register, and interpretive panel are 

installed in two aluminum-frame signs erected to either side of the flagstaff. The 

iron tablets are probably removed at this time.

1962 The name of Petersburg National Military Park is changed to Petersburg National 

Battlefield. The Regional Resource-Planning Office of the National Park Service 

drafts a boundary-site plan for Poplar Grove. 

1964 An interpretive prospectus is completed for Poplar Grove.

1965 A new master plan is completed for Petersburg National Battlefield, including 

Poplar Grove.

1971 The Odom family establishes a small cemetery on the south side of the approach 

road with the burial of Nellie E. Jones and Lester Grady Odom.

1972 Around this time, a driveway is built through the Blaha Farm extending from 

the approach road and running parallel to the north side of the cemetery to two 

houses built off east side of cemetery by Ronald Peterson and Anthony Blaha on 

subdivisions of Odom farm. The 0.05-acre Odom cemetery is platted. 

1974 Around this time, the arborvitae hedge around the service yard, service yard well, 

Maltese cross hedge, settees, and three of the four gun monuments are removed; 

the flagstaff reduced in height and its guy wires are removed. A new well is 

installed in the service yard.

1976 A Resource Management Plan for Poplar Grove is approved. 

November 1976 A Development/Study Package Proposal is approved for Poplar Grove, outlining 

a comprehensive program of improvements and acquisition of land for buffer 

purposes and to place the approach road in government ownership. 

December 1977 Working drawings for the improvement program are completed by Livas & 

Associates, Architects. The plans are not implemented. 

1987 Roberta E. Odom makes an initial offer to donate property along the west side of 

the cemetery.
309 

September 5, 1990 A contract is executed for donation of fee simple title to a 3.7-acre tract along 

the west side of cemetery; includes a portion of the approach road and the .05-

acre Odom cemetery. Property is donated by Roberta E. Odom to National Park 

Foundation with reservation of burial rights in the Odom family cemetery. 

April 24, 1991 Roberta Odom signs a deed conveying the 3.7-acre tract to the National Park 

Foundation. The Foundation intends to convey the property to the National 

Park Service but is unable to do so because the property is outside of the park 

boundary (corresponding to cemetery property boundary). 

1995 Around this time, the National Park Service builds a parking lot on the 3.7-acre 

Odom tract, along the north side of approach road. 

2003 The remains of three unidentified Union soldiers are reinterred in the cemetery 

from Peeble’s Farm and Reams Station. Around this time, the approach road and 

main drive are repaved in asphalt with a sand and pea-gravel top coat.

2004 A storm causes a blow-down in the woods north of the cemetery, creating 

openings in the narrow band of woods along the northern boundary.

Appendix H
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

310
311 

ummary of Rtions, Policies, and Planning Rant to treatment of The 

Gational CemeTery landscape 

VA National Cemetery Regulations & 

Policies * 

(current) 

War Department 

National 

Cemetery 

Regulations ** 

(1931) 

NPS National 

Cemetery 

Regulations & 

Policies *** 

Existing Condition at 

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery 

Overall 

Landscape 

Character 

National Cemeteries to be maintained as 

national shrines: a place of honor and 

memory that declares to the visitor or 

family member who views it that, within its 

majestic setting, each and every veteran 

may find a sense of serenity, historic 

sacrifice and nobility of purpose. Each 

visitor should depart feeling that the 

grounds, the gravesites and the environs of 

the national cemetery are a beautiful and 

awe-inspiring tribute to those who gave 

much to preserve our Nation’s freedom 

and way of life (OSM, 4). 

Promote general grounds appearance that 

is aesthetically pleasing, generally 

consistent throughout all national 

cemeteries, and allows fulfillment of 

national shrine commitment (OSM, 11). 

Sacred character 

(p. 18); Well-kept 

sward, graceful 

shade trees, pretty 

shrubs and 

evergreens (p. 33). 

The NPS national 

cemeteries are 

administered to 

preserve the historic 

character, uniqueness, 

and solemn nature of 

both the cemeteries 

and the historical park 

(DO-61). 

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery is 

rehabilitated to reflect 

the original [sic] sense 

of contemplation, 

quite, and solemnity 

(PETE GMP, 62). 

Barren character. Loss of 

trees and shrubs, 

alteration of grave 

markers, and changes to 

the approach road 

detract from cemetery’s 

historic beauty, 

solemnity, and aweinspiring character. 

Alterations to grave 

markers and approach 

road, and loss of smallscale features (settees, 

tablets, gun monuments) 

detract from 

standardized nature 

(cemetery’s association 

with Civil War-era 

national cemeteries). 

Setting No reference to setting (adjoining noncemetery lands). No reference to 

setting. 

No reference to 

setting in DO-61. 

Four acres along 

approach road and 

Globe Tavern 

battlefield proposed 

for acquisition (PETE 

GMP, 30). 

Adjoining development 

detracts from cemetery’s 

historic beauty, 

solemnity, and aweinspiring character. 

Trees, Shrubs, 

Vines 

Concentrate plantings in non-burial areas, 

such as trees along streets, buffer planting 

to screen unsightly views, and plantings to 

separate burial sections. Each plant used 

should serve a purpose and together 

should contribute to the function and 

overall design intent of the cemetery 

master plan. In general, use regionally 

native plants and employ landscaping 

practices and technologies that conserve 

water and prevent pollution. In non-burial 

areas, consider alternatives to standard turf 

that are suitable to drought conditions. 

(sitegrading.asp). Trees and shrubs are 

compatible with the geographic region and 

are healthy and vigorous (OSM Standard 

3.1, 3.2). 

Include graceful 

shade trees, pretty 

shrubs and 

evergreens (p. 33). 

Trees and shrubs 

will be kept clear of 

dead, dying or 

broken limbs and 

snags. Removal of 

lower limbs of 

evergreen trees and 

shrubs as a rule is 

prohibited. (p. 34). 

Ivy growing on the 

inside face of the 

inclosing wall will 

be kept trimmed on 

a line parallel with 

the lower edge of 

the coping. 

Flowering vines 

may be grown on 

the porches of the 

lodges, on arbors, 

and on rostrums (p. 

35). Planting of 

trees, shrubs, vines, 

or other plants on 

any burial lot or 

grave site not 

permitted (p. 56). 

No reference to trees, 

shrubs, vines. 

Some trees and shrubs in 

decline. 

Lawn Visually prominent areas appear groomed 

and raked; have a well-established, healthy 

stand of turf generally free of weeds, bare 

areas, and debris; sunken graves are 

leveled; and grass around grave markers 

trimmed to recommended height (OSM, 

Standards 2.1-2.6). Irrigation is usually 

necessary to keep the landscape at an 

aesthetically pleasing level. Irrigation 

To be a well-kept 

sward. Grass will 

be cut often during 

the growing season; 

coarse weeds will 

be kept down; care 

will be taken to 

avoid injury to 

monuments or 

No reference to lawn. Lawn does not have the 

character of a well-kept 

sward. 

(continued)

Appendix I

APPENDIX i
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

312

lateral lines in burial sections should run 

parallel with the length of the gravesites. 

(siteirrigation.asp). 

headstones when 

cutting the grass (p. 

33). 

Flowerbeds Planting beds are well maintained, 

attractive, and compatible with geographic 

region (OSM, Standard 6.1). 

A few flowers 

about the lodge 

and at one or more 

other prominent 

points are all that 

should be 

maintained; flower 

beds will not be 

mounded (p. 33). 

No reference to 

flower beds. 

No flowerbeds extant. 

Inclosure 

(Perimeter Wall 

and Entrance 

Gate) 

Entrance area must incorporate the DVA 

Seal at least two feet in diameter, and the 

words “(Name) National Cemetery,” in 

lettering sufficient to be seen from the 

public street (approach road); the cemetery 

name shall include unobtrusive lighting 

(.siteentrance.asp) 

Paint color: iron 

gates, black; 

shields, black with 

letters outlined in 

gold leaf. Brick will 

not be painted (p. 

32). 

No reference to 

inclosure. 

Name of cemetery 

lacking from entrance 

(entrance gate). Shields 

on entrance gate posts 

(“U. S. National 

Cemetery”) are outlined 

in silver/aluminum rather 

than gold leaf. 

Drives, Walks Roads and walks are clean and wellmaintained (OSM Other Standard 1.3) 

For the primary cemetery road, a main 

loop is desirable, allowing one to drive 

through the cemetery without turning 

around. Preferred road design includes 

curbing. All roads should support heavy 

equipment and large trucks loaded with 

wet dirt, gravel and headstones. Minimum 

width for entrance & primary roads: 24’ 

edge to edge with no curb, 50’ minimum 

radius (siteroadway.asp). 

Drives and walks 

not grass-covered 

will be kept 

properly crowned, 

free from weeds or 

other growths, and 

properly defined 

by the alignment 

and trimming of 

the grass edges (p. 

32). 

No reference to 

drives, walks. 

Existing entrance road 

+/-11 feet wide. Edges of 

drive not well defined. 

Existing asphalt with 

worn gravel coat gives 

impression of 

deterioration. 

Approach Road 

and Parking 

Parking lots are accessible and wellmaintained (OSM Other Standard 1.4) 

Parking for special events and programs is 

accommodated on roadways and 

sometimes on the turf in undeveloped 

interment areas. 

Approach road and 

the parking will be 

kept in good 

condition, the trees 

trimmed, and the 

gutters clear (p. 

32). 

See also Drives, 

Walks. 

No reference to 

approach road and 

parking in DO-61. 

The approach road 

and adjoining four 

acres will be acquired 

under federal 

ownership (PETE 

GMP, 25). 

Existing asphalt with 

worn sand coat gives 

impression of 

deterioration. Trees 

along approach road not 

trimmed. 

Three-quarters of 

approach road not under 

federal ownership. 

Gutters and 

Drains 

No reference to gutters and drains. Bermuda or other 

strong creeping 

grasses recommended for 

revetting of the 

gutters; outlets and 

culverts will be 

kept open (p. 32). 

No reference to 

gutters and drains. 

Outlet at northwest 

corner not sufficient to 

drain low area of 

cemetery. 

Stone Lodge 

(Visitor Contact 

Station) 

Each cemetery to have a Public 

Information Center (.siteentrance.asp). 

Structures have a clean and wellmaintained appearance (OSM Other 

Standard 1.2). 

The office in the 

lodge will be used 

as the depository 

for public records 

and for receiving 

visitors. Its door 

will be kept 

unlocked during 

the hours that the 

cemetery gates are 

open. The lodge is 

intended for 

occupancy by the 

cemetery 

superintendent and 

his family. (p. 29) 

Paint colors: tin 

roof, red; wood 

trim, white; doors, 

blinds, and 

latticework, bronze 

green; porch 

ceiling, light blue; 

No references to 

lodge. 

Lodge to be 

rehabilitated as visitor 

contact station to 

provide visitor 

information on 

cemetery and Western 

Front (PETE GMP, 

49). 

Lodge serves as visitor 

contact station, but its 

hours of operation are 

very limited and the 

building is not adequately 

furnished for the 

purpose. 

Paint colors not 

consistent with 1931 

regulations (may not 

have been historically). 

(continued)
313 

porch floor and 

steps, dark gray. (p. 

30). 

Outbuildings Restrooms are clean, functional, sanitary, 

and appropriately supplied and are 

handicapped accessible. Structures have a 

clean and well-maintained appearance 

(OSM Other Standards 1.1, 1.2). 

Paint colors: same 

as lodge (p. 31; for 

brick or stone 

outbuildings, 

stucco not 

specified). 

No references to 

building appearance. 

Restrooms, lodge? to 

be open year-round 

(PETE GMP, 56). 

Paint colors not 

consistent with 1931 

regulations (may not 

have been historically). 

Iron Rostrum No reference to iron rostrums. Paint colors: 

railings, columns, 

and structural 

ironwork, black; 

top of roof, red; 

underside of roof, 

light blue (p. 31). 

No reference to iron 

rostrums. 

Paint colors not 

consistent with historic 

regulations (may not 

have been historically). 

Wood Fences No reference to wood fences. Paint color: light 

gray (p. 32). 

No reference to wood 

fences. 

Wood privacy fence at 

lodge not painted. 

Flagstaff Primary flagpole: Provide trees/plantings at 

the flag that enhance the setting and are 

appropriate to the site (native, low 

maintenance). Provide ample and 

unobtrusive flag lighting (no in-ground 

fixtures). The flagpole shall meet FAA 

regulations for height and flight safety 

requirements (siteflag.asp). (No references 

to regulation height.) 

Paint colors: 

flagstaff and guy 

wires, white; 

anchor rods to guy 

wires, black; base 

of flagstaff, black 

(p. 31). Mounds 

will not be made 

around the flagstaff 

(p. 33). (No 

references to 

regulation height). 

Established 

procedures and 

protocols for 

displaying the U. S. 

flag are outlined in 

Reference Manual 

#61. 

Flagstaff (40’) is 

approximately half its 

original (1931) height. 

Surrounding landscape 

(within central circle) has 

a barren feeling. Low 

height of flagstaff and 

flanking burial locatorinterpretive signs detract 

from beauty and aweinspiring character. 

Settees 

(Benches) 

Use commercially available bench to be 

placed at selected locations to take 

advantage of views or vistas or to establish 

spots for meditation. Donations by 

veterans service organizations are the 

primary means for acquiring the benches. 

Paint color: bronze 

green (p. 31). 

No reference to 

benches or other 

visitor amenities. 

No benches extant. 

Grave 

Adornments 

Artificial flowers and potted plants 

permitted on graves during periods when 

their presence will not interfere with 

grounds maintenance (gen. Easter through 

Memorial Day). Seasonal adornments may 

be placed on graves from Dec. 1 through 

Jan. 20. Permanent plantings, statues, vigil 

lights, breakable objects and similar items 

are not permitted on the graves. 

(Richmond National Cemetery website). 

Flower vases: To be stored in receptacles 

that make vases available for public use in 

the cemetery; design should be 

coordinated with other site fixtures; 

cemetery should include flower waterspigots (sitefurns.asp). 

Cut flowers held in 

vases permitted. 

Color of vase: 

white (p. 31). On 

Memorial Day, 

each grave to be 

decorated with a 

small flag (p. 18). 

Superintendents will 

designate the types of 

containers and the 

times floral 

arrangements may be 

placed on the graves 

in accordance with 36 

CRF 12.10 (DO-61 

4.2). The placement 

on a grave of fresh cut 

or artificial flowers in 

or on a metal or other 

non-breakable rod or 

container designated 

by the superintendent 

is allowed at times 

designated by the 

superintendent. The 

placement of a statue, 

vigil light, or other 

commemorative 

object on a grave, or 

the securing or 

attaching of any 

object to a headstone , 

marker, or 

commemorative 

monument is 

prohibited (36 CFR 

12.10). Superintendents may 

authorize the 

placement of small U. 

S. flags on each grave 

in honor of Memorial 

Day (DO-61, 4.11) 

Small flags set out at each 

grave on Memorial Day. 

(continued)

Appendix I
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

314

Signs (Tablets) Signage is convenient and helpful (OSM 

Other Standard 1.5). Signage should be 

consistent with the NCA Program Guide, 

Signage Standards for national cemeteries, 

unless there is a compelling reason for a 

unique design. Signs should be a 

coordinated information system, and 

include the following types: trail blazer, site 

directory, traffic regulation, directional, 

street identification, place identification, 

floral regulation/visitor information, burial 

section markers, and committal service 

status board (sitefurns.asp). 

Paint colors for 

tablets: black; 

borders and faces 

of letters, 

aluminum (p. 31). 

No reference to signs 

DO-61). New 

waysides and 

interpretive programs 

planned (PETE GMP, 

55-56). 

Lack of convenient and 

helpful signage. No burial 

section markers. No 

traffic regulation signs. 

No street identification 

signs. No floral 

regulation/visitor 

information signs. No 

historic tablets remain. 

Lincoln 

(Gettysburg 

Address) 

Memorial Tablet 

No reference to Lincoln memorial tablet. Paint colors: black; 

borders and faces 

of letters, copperbronze paint (p. 

31). 

No reference to 

Lincoln memorial 

tablet. 

Not consistent with 

historic regulations (may 

not have been 

historically); currently 

black with silver borders 

and letters. 

Gravesite 

(Burial) Locator 

A gravesite locator stand should 

accommodate public use of a book-type 

listing of interments with corresponding 

gravesite number. Design to be 

coordinated with other site furnishings. 

Will normally be located at the Public 

Information Center. In the future may be 

in an interactive computer accessible to the 

public (sitefurns.asp). 

No reference. The 

Burial Register was 

usually kept in the 

lodge office. 

No reference to 

gravesite locator. 

Burial locator difficult to 

read. No corresponding 

grave section (block) 

markers. 

Memorials and 

Monuments 

Each cemetery should have an area or 

areas, separate and distinct from interment 

areas for the collective display of 

memorials donated by various recognized 

veterans groups. The area(s) may take the 

form of a path or terrace and should 

provide a place for quiet walks and 

contemplation for cemetery visitors. To the 

extent possible, an established wooded 

setting provides the best location for the 

donation area(s) or memorial path. A 

memorial walkway should have optimal 

locations designated along the path for 

donated memorials, plaques and benches. 

May include a flagpole for display of the 

POW/MIA flag (sitememorial.asp). 

Applications from 

States, veteran 

organizations, 

societies, and 

others for the 

erection of 

memorial 

monuments will be 

submitted to the 

Secretary of War 

and no such 

monument will be 

erected until the 

design, inscription 

and site have been 

approved. The 

exposed portions 

of monuments may 

be constructed 

only of bronze or 

of durable stone or 

marble of approved 

color of the best 

quality and without 

flaws. (pp. 25-26; 

includes approved 

dimensions of 

monuments in 

various categories). 

Commemorative 

monuments must 

conform to the type, 

size, materials, design, 

and specifications 

prescribed for the 

historic design of the 

cemetery section in 

which it is proposed 

for installation (DO61 4.9). 

Aside from Gun 

Monument, Poplar 

Grove has no memorials 

or monuments. 

Gun Monuments No reference to gun monuments. Paint color: black. 

Bronze shield will 

not be painted (p. 

31, 32). 

No reference to gun 

monuments. 

Bronze shield on gun 

monument painted black, 

making it difficult to 

read. Three of four 

original gun monuments 

have been removed. 

Assembly Area A turf assembly area, with the U. S. flag as 

its focus, should be developed for major 

gatherings of people on holidays; should 

incorporate a focal point in the spirit of a 

traditional rostrum that can be used as a 

speakers’ platform. Provide adequate 

electrical service to meet ceremonial and 

maintenance needs. 

(siteflag.asp). 

No reference to 

assembly area. 

No reference to 

assembly area. 

Assembly areas at 

rostrum; secondary area 

at flagstaff. Lack of 

support utilities at each. 

(continued)
315 

Avenue of Flags The cemetery development plan should 

indicate the location for an “avenue of 

flags” where donated American burial flags 

are displayed on special days. The entrance 

road, or the primary road, is typically the 

most suitable for this designation. The 

development plan should provide for 

sockets adjacent to the roadway, for 

flagstaffs 15-30’ high and spaced 15-30’ 

apart. 

No reference to 

Avenue of Flags. 

No reference to 

Avenue of Flags. 

No Avenue of Flags 

exists; none historically. 

Headstones 

(Known graves) 

[VA Manual M40-3 (Headstones and 

Markers)—awaiting from VA, not yet 

reviewed.] 

Headstones are properly aligned; clean; 

free of debris, and objectionable 

accumulations; not damaged by cemetery 

operations; and are visible and legible 

(OSM Standards 4.1-4.4). 

Historical headstones are replaced in-kind 

(OSM, Standard 4.4). 

Headstones damaged beyond reasonable 

repair by actions outside the cemetery’s 

control (storms, auto accidents) are 

repaired or replaced (OSM Standard 4.5). 

Headstones that are no longer useable are 

disposed of in a manner that prevents reuse 

(OSM Standard 4.6). 

The Civil War and Spanish-American War 

headstones were recently reintroduced; are 

inscribed in raised lettering inside a sunken 

shield. There are two different sizes of 

these historical upright marble headstones: 

XA: 12” wide, 3” thick, 42” high; XB: 13” 

wide, 3” thick, 42” high. Inscription: shield 

with arched name and abbreviated military 

organization; no space for emblem or 

belief; dates of birth and death are 

inscribed below the shield (note: latter not 

on original Civil War stones) 

(www.cem.va.gov/hmcivil/htm). 

White marble 

conforming to 

approved 

specifications; set 

on center line at 

head of grave; 

inscription facing 

grave; in alignment 

both laterally and 

longitudinally with 

adjoining 

headstones; 18” or 

24” above ground. 

Headstones will be 

kept clean. A 

report will be made 

of any headstones 

that become 

illegible, broken, or 

which for any other 

reason should be 

replaced in order 

that action may be 

taken to replace 

them (pp. 24-25). 

Refers to operation 

policy and procedural 

guidance for 

headstones and 

markers in VA 

Manual M40-3 

(Headstones and 

Markers). Private 

headstones and 

markers are generally 

not permitted because 

of conflict with the 

historic character of 

the cemeteries (DO61, 4.9). 

New or replacement 

headstones have used the 

standard VA headstone 

(General type), but laid 

flush in the ground. 

Many of the existing 

stones are badly chipped 

and/or cracked. 

Vast majority not 

designed to lie flush in 

the ground. 

Some are illegible due to 

lack of cleaning and/or 

eroding of the marble. 

Labor-intensive to keep 

grass from growing over 

the headstones. 

Blocks 

(Unknown 

Graves) 

No reference to blocks. See Headstones. 

(Height above 

grade 6.”) 

No reference to 

blocks. 

Many of the existing 

blocks are badly chipped. 

Not designed to lie flush 

or slightly above grade. 

Some not visible due to 

cover of grass. 

Footstones No reference to footstones. Footstones of 

durable stone sunk 

flush with the 

ground, not 

exceeding 10” by 

20” at the top and 

inscribed with a 

suitable identifying 

inscription, may be 

placed at private 

expense at the foot 

of any grave (p. 28). 

No reference to 

footstones. 

No footstones exist; none 

historically. 

Use—General Visitors will respect 

dignity and sacred 

character of the 

cemetery (p. 18). 

National flag 

displayed every day 

from sunrise to 

sunset; post flag 

and storm flag 

depending on 

weather (p. 18). 

Grounds will be in 

best possible 

condition for 

Memorial Day 

Visitors should be 

encouraged to 

conduct themselves in 

a manner befitting the 

solemn and dignified 

nature of the national 

cemeteries (DO-61 

4.2). Conducting a 

special event or 

demonstration, 

whether spontaneous 

or organized, is 

prohibited except for 

official 

commemorative 

No signs indicating 

proper visitor conduct. 

Picnic table located in 

service yard. 

Automobiles drive over 

graves when two passing 

on main drive. Ranger 

stationed at limited times 

to provide interpretation. 

(continued)

Appendix I
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

316

(p.18). The 

cemetery will not 

be used as a picnic 

grounds (p.18). 

Pedestrians not 

allowed to cross 

grave sections 

[remain on 

walks/drives] 

(p.19). Speed of 

auto-mobiles 

limited to 15 mph. 

(p. 19)) 

events conducted for 

Memorial Day, 

Veterans Day, and 

other dates designated 

by the superintendent 

as having historic and 

commemorative 

significance to a 

particular national 

cemetery (DO-61 

4.10). The historic 

features and setting of 

Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery, 

along with guided 

tours, wayside 

exhibits, and special 

presentations are used 

by visitors to 

understand the 

commemorative 

landscape (PETE 

GMP, 64). 

Use—New 

Burials 

The enlargement of a 

national cemetery for 

additional burials 

constitutes a modern 

intrusion, compromising the historical 

character of both the 

cemetery and the 

historical park, and 

will not be permitted. 

(2001 NPS Management Policies, 

8.6.10.1: and 

Director’s Order #61: 

National Cemeteries.) 

Poplar Grove closed to 

new burials since 1957. 

Accepts reinterment of 

Civil War remains from 

surrounding battlefields 

(last in 2003). 

Use—Private 

Cemetery 

(Odom Family 

Cemetery) 

Not applicable. Not applicable. The burial of family 

members in family 

cemeteries that have 

been acquired by the 

Park Service in the 

course of establishment of parks will be 

permitted to the 

extent practicable, 

pursuant to applicable 

regulations, until 

space allotted to the 

cemeteries has been 

filled. Family 

members (or their 

designees) will be 

allowed access for 

purposes of upkeep 

and commemoration 

(such as wreathlaying and religious 

rituals) that do not 

jeopardize safety or 

resource protection. 

Park superintendents 

will keep active files 

on cemeteries for the 

purpose of 

responding to 

requests and inquiries. 

(2001 NPS Management Policies, 8.6.10.2 

Family Cemeteries ) 

Permission for family 

burial and access in deed 

to NPS. 

(continued)
317 

Key: OSM = Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration (NCA) Operational Standards 

and Measures (ver. 2 Oct. 2004)

DO-61 = NPS Director’s Order #61 (National Cemetery Operations).

PETE GMP = Petersburg National Battlefield Final General Management Plan (2004)

(title).asp = webpage from NCA Office of Construction Management website, “Site Elements/Features,” 

http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/ocm

 

 * = Based on National Cemetery Administration, “Operational Standards and Measures” (Ver. 2 October 

2004); Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration Office of Construction 

Management website, and individual national cemetery websites.

** = Office of the Quartermaster General, National Cemetery Regulations (Washington: Government Printing 

Office, 1931). 

*** = Based on DO #61 NPS National Cemetery Operations, 36 CFR 12 (National Cemetery Regulations, with 

cross-references to DVA NCA policies), Nat’l Cemeteries Act of 1973; also PETE GMP.

 Note: Interments are not addressed under use because Poplar Grove is closed to new burials except for Civil War 

remains. 

 

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318
319 

APPENDIX J

Treatment alternatives considered for grave markers 

This appendix includes all treatment alternatives for the grave markers considered in development of this Cultural 

Landscape Report. 

Alternative A: Install New Grave Markers Replicating Historic Changes

This alternative replicates the changes made to the headstones through 1933 (including 

replacement headstones), and retains flat markers installed after 1933 that are original to the grave. 

Replacement markers installed after 1933 are returned to their historic upright style of marker. This 

alternative will thus result in a dominant upright style of headstone with scattered flat markers. 

Alternative B: Install New Grave Markers Using Styles Original to the Grave 

As with Alternative A, this alternative replicates most grave markers that existed in 1933 while 

retaining in situ those markers original to the grave installed after 1933. In the replacement grave 

markers, however, this alternative will not retain the record of changes made through 1933. 

Regardless of whether the headstones were replaced before or after 1933, all markers will be 

returned to the style original to the grave (e.g., the first-generation recessed-shield headstones 

broken in the 1915 summer storms and replaced with second-generation recessed-shield 

headstones will be restored back to first-generation style). 

Alternative C: Provide Upright Headstones or Blocks to All Graves 

[Selected alternative]

This alternative installs new upright headstones or blocks at all graves with the exception of some of 

the non-government headstones. Post-1933 graves, including those originally having a flat marker, 

will receive a General upright headstone. This alternative will provide uniformity with the rest of the 

cemetery for the post-1933 graves that presently have flat markers..

Alternative to Second-Generation Recessed-Shield Headstones 

[Selected]

In any of the three above alternatives, it would be appropriate in the context of the cultural 

landscape to use the first-generation (Civil War) recessed-shield headstones for the graves that have 

a second-generation type (Spanish-American War headstone). This substitution in the replacement 

stones would simplify the replacement process, and would be appropriate because the two styles 

are so close in appearance. Approximately sixty headstones are the second-generation type, and 

most of these are replacements of either Civil War headstones or blocks. 

Appendix J
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

320

Alternatives to Replacement of Unknown Blocks

Because they were not cut but rather sunk in the ground, it may be possible to return the existing 

blocks (“6x6x30 unknowns”) to their historic appearance without replacement. In addition, while 

most of the blocks have chipped edges, this condition is less apparent than the chipping on the 

headstones due to the small scale of the blocks. Given that nearly forty percent of the grave markers 

at Poplar Grove are blocks, alternatives to replacement could potential provide a substantial cost 

savings while also preserving historic materials. 

Note: a subsequent examination of the blocks in 2009 found that as a whole, their deteriorated 

condition does not warrant their reuse.

Grave Marker Alternatives Not Recommended

1. Resetting Existing Pre-1934 Headstones Upright: This alternative is not recommended due 

to the deteriorated and altered condition of the existing headstones (bases cut off; chipped, 

heavily weathered, and cracked). Such damage and alteration is inconsistent with historic and 

current National Cemetery regulations intended to invoke honor and respect upon each grave. 

The existing headstones reflect over seventy years of neglect and if set upright would continue 

to detract from the historic well-maintained character of the landscape. In addition, the 

headstones were cut off at various angles and heights that would require custom foundations 

for each stone, most likely making the work of resetting the existing stones upright not 

economical. Such conditions would also result in inconsistent bases that would detract from 

the historic uniformity of the headstones. 

2. Replacing Blocks with Headstones: The use of blocks for unknown graves is a characterdefining feature of Civil War-era National Cemeteries, making clear in the landscape the vast 

number of unknown burials. Replacement of the blocks with headstones would therefore be 

incompatible with the historic character of the landscape. 

3. Replacement only with Recessed-Shield Headstones and Blocks: This alternative would not 

retain the historic distinction with the introduction of the General headstone for World War 

I and later veterans. Although this alternative would not have a marked impact on the historic 

character of the landscape given the small number of markers to which it would apply, it would 

blur the historic development pattern of the graves and suggest the cemetery only contained 

Civil War and Spanish-American War veterans.

4. Replacement Using Flat Markers: This alternative, which was executed at Yorktown National 

Cemetery in c.1941, would not achieve the treatment objective of returning the grave markers 

to their historical appearance of upright headstones and blocks. 

5. Retaining Existing Conditions (retain all existing grave markers in flush position): This 

alternative is not recommended because the existing damaged condition of the headstones 

and blocks does not meet current or historic National Cemetery Regulations; because the 

headstones and blocks are difficult to locate and read; and because it would not achieve the 

treatment objective of returning the grave markers to their historical appearance. 
321 

Treatment Alternatives for Disposition of Replaced Headstones

A possible conflict between National Cemetery regulations and National Park Service cultural resource management 

guidelines may arise over the disposition of the existing grave markers (headstones and blocks) where a new/

replacement grave marker is installed. National Cemetery regulations require that replaced grave markers will be 

treated in a manner that prevents their reuse. If they are removed from a grave, the grave marker must be destroyed. 

In contrast, from a cultural resource management perspective the existing grave markers may be considered as a 

contributing resource in the revised National Register documentation pertaining to the historic significance of 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery under Criterion A. However, as documented in the analysis and evaluation section 

of this report, the existing grave markers do not contribute to the significance of the cemetery under National 

Register Criterion C in the area of landscape architecture due to a lack of integrity or installation after the period of 

significance for the landscape. 

Given this dichotomy in evaluation of the existing grave markers, there are several alternatives that are appropriate to 

the treatment of Poplar Grove as a cultural landscape. The appropriateness of these alternatives may require further 

consideration by other National Park Service cultural resource management disciplines, notably museum objects and 

archeology. 

Alternative A: Retain Existing Grave Markers In Situ

This alternative retains the existing headstones in their flat position, essentially as footstones. The 

headstones may require a slight shift in location (lower on the grave) to provide room for the proper 

alignment of the new upright headstone. A minimum of six inches should be maintained between 

the flat stone and the upright marker. If the blocks (Civil War unknowns) are replaced, the old 

blocks should be sunk flush with the ground to the side, at the head of the grave. 

For the headstones, this alternative would avoid the requirement for destruction because the 

headstones would not be removed from the grave and their reuse would thus be prevented. 

(VA Manual M40-3, Chapter 4, Section 11 “Destruction or Removal.”) This alternative is also 

consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards because the historic resource is retained, 

preserving the record of change over time. This record may have value where alternative treatments 

(Alternatives B and C) for the new headstones do not match the historic stone. For example, under 

Alternative B, where new first-generation recessed-shield headstones is installed at a grave currently 

with a second-generation type, this old grave marker would remain visible as a record of the change 

that occurred as a result of the summer storms of 1915. 

From a cultural landscape perspective, retention of the existing headstones alongside the new 

upright headstones will not have a marked visual impact because the old headstones in their 

position flush with the ground are inconspicuous. Only upon close inspection will the old 

headstones become visible. From an archeological perspective, this alternative will also not impact 

the underlying grave. There may be a curatorial concern about material conservation of the old 

Appendix J
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

322

markers because the stone will continue to suffer from 

weathering (the horizontal position exposes the inscribed face 

of the stone to heavier weathering than the upright position). 

The alternative may also pose an additional maintenance 

burden to trim around both the upright and flush headstones. 

This alternative has been implemented on a few graves at 

the National Park Service-administered Fredericksburg 

National Cemetery, where new headstones were installed 

due to errors in the inscription of the old. (Donald Pfanz, 

Historian, Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military 

Park, phone conversation with author, 30 November 2006.) 

It was implemented on a comprehensive level in c.2000 at the Soldiers Plot of 

Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, New York, a Civil War-era military plot in a 

private cemetery. Here, the old weathered headstones were laid flush with the 

ground, and new General headstones were installed at the top of each grave (fig. 

J.1). Viewed in its entirety, the retention of the old markers has a subtle impact 

on the historic character of the landscape. This impact is outweighed by the 

value of retaining the old headstones, which were not replicated in-kind, thus 

maintaining a visual historical record. The end result would be the same at Poplar 

Grove, the only difference being the existing grave markers were set flush in the 

ground many years before. 

Alternative B: Burying Existing Grave Markers in Place

This variation on Alternative A would sink the headstones and blocks below grade, essentially 

making them archeological resources. The headstones would need to be buried to a depth that 

would prevent heaving and allow for healthy growth of turf. The blocks should be sunk to the 

side of their existing position at the head of the grave. Given their vertical length of thirty inches, 

resetting the old blocks in a flush position lower on the grave would have the potential of disturbing 

the underlying remains. This alternative would avoid the requirement to destroy the grave markers 

because they would not be removed from the grave and their reuse would be prevented. Drawbacks 

of this alternative over Alternative A include loss of the visual record of the old markers, and 

potential archeological impacts resulting from excavation. Benefits over Alternative A may be 

reduced maintenance (no need to trim around old headstones); a more accurate historic character 

to the landscape; and material conservation of the old headstones because they would not be as 

exposed to weathering. 

Figure J.1: Illustration of alternative 

A for the old markers implemented 

at the Soldiers Plot of Oakwood 

Cemetery, Syracuse, New York. The 

old headstones were laid flush with 

the ground and new governmentissued headstones were installed 

at the top of the grave. Note that 

the old headstones recede in the 

landscape, but remain visible upon 

close inspection. (SUNY ESF, 2006.)
323 

Alternative C: Removal of Existing Grave Markers

[Selected alternative]

This alternative would remove the existing grave markers from their respective graves when 

the new headstone is installed. In keeping with National Cemetery regulations, this alternative 

would therefore require some means of preventing reuse of the old grave makers, either through 

destruction (e.g., grinding up the stones) or through removal to a place where they could not be 

reused (e.g., burial in a pit outside of the cemetery). This alternative poses a potential conflict 

with National Park Service cultural resource management guidelines if the old grave markers are 

considered a contributing resource (under Criterion A) because it would result in the loss of the 

historic resource (either through destruction or removal from its historic location). Benefits to this 

alternative over Alternative A would include reduced maintenance (no need to trim around the old 

headstones) and a more accurate historic character to the landscape. Benefits over Alternative B 

would include no archeological impacts to the underlying remains. 

Appendix J
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324
325 

APPENDIX K

list of research contacts

Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. 

Consulted webpage (http://www.cem.va.gov/) containing history of the National 

Cemetery System and consulted with National Cemetery Administration historians Sarah 

Leach and Jennifer Perunko. 

Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, Richmond 

Area. 

Met with Lawrence Bibbs, Manager and Program Analyst for Richard area Veterans 

Affairs (VA) national cemeteries about current treatment and maintenance practices. 

Dinwiddie Historical Society, Old Dinwiddie Courthouse, Boydon Plank Road, 

Dinwiddie, Virginia. 

Spoke with county historian Betty Bowen. The historical society does not have any 

materials on Poplar Grove National Cemetery. 

Dinwiddie Library, Appomattox Regional Library System, 14103 Boydon Plank Road, 

Dinwiddie, Virginia. 

Spoke with librarian Joanne Cowden. The library does not have any materials on Poplar 

Grove National Cemetery in clipping or photographic files. Ms. Cowden also called over 

to the main regional library in Hopewell, where no additional materials were found. 

Library of Congress, American Memory website, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/

index.html.

Searched for photographs on 50thNew York Engineers Camp, Petersburg, Poplar Grove 

National Cemetery, other National Cemeteries.

Library of Virginia, Richmond (state library and archives). 

Consulted web catalogue and online photograph collection. Found a 1939 photograph of 

Poplar Grove National Cemetery and index to Petersburg newspapers 1797-1877.

National Archives: Archives I (Washington, D.C.) and Archives II (College Park, 

Maryland). 

Searched following collections:

Archives I (Old Military Records)

RG 92.8.1 General Records 

RG 92.8.2 Records relating to the administration of national cemeteries

Appendix K
Cultural Landscape Report for Poplar Grove National Cemetery

326

RG 92.8.5 Records relating to the furnishing of headstones

RG 92.10 Records of War Department Commissions Concerned with Military 

Cemeteries and Battlefield Parks 1893-1923

RG 92.16, .17: Cartographic and Still Pictures

RG 92.7 Records of the Construction Division 1819-1941

RG 92.8 Records of the Memorial Division 1828-1962

RG 159.3 Inspection Report 1814-1939: Biannual Cemetery Inspection 

 Reports 

Archives II (Modern Military Records, NPS Records, Still Pictures) 

General Correspondence Series

Entry 5, War Department Records (RG 79.2.2)

 Poplar Grove: Box 537, Central Files (Stack 150, row 80, compartment 

 12, shelf 1)

Box 212, H series, NPS files

RG 79.10.4, Records of Yorktown National Cemetery 

Still Pictures; photographs of national cemeteries in Virginia.

National Park Service, Denver Service Center, Lakewood, Colorado.

Repository for National Park Service reports and plans of Poplar Grove, 1934-c.1979. 

National Park Service, Fredericksburg National Cemetery.

Spoke with Donald Pfanz, Historian, Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military 

Park, about history and current management of Fredericksburg National Cemetery.

National Park Service, Petersburg National Battlefield archives, temporarily housed 

at Fort Lee, Hopewell, Virginia, originally at park visitor center. 

The archives contain superintendents’ letters, the burial record, and cemetery 

inventories. These materials were researched by Park Ranger Betsy Dinger for 

documentation as part of her digital database of cemetery records. 

National Park Service, Petersburg National Battlefield Headquarters, Hickory Hill 

Road, Petersburg. 

Administrative records for Poplar Grove, c.1957 to present. 

National Park Service, Petersburg National Battlefield Park Maintenance.

Spoke with Richard Underwood, park electrician, about current and past maintenance at 

Poplar Grove. Mr. Underwood has worked at the park and Poplar Grove since 1978. He 

also conveyed information from his conversation with Leroy Bobbit, retired Petersburg 

maintenance mechanic, who began work at the park and cemetery in c.1970.
327 

Petersburg Public Library System, William R. McKenney Branch Central Library, 

137 S. Sycamore Street, Petersburg. 

Searched Research Room (local history room) shelves and card catalogue, and spoke 

with reference librarian. The library does not have any collections pertaining specifically 

to Poplar Grove National Cemetery; found some materials in Petersburg history books. 

The library also has a collection of Petersburg newspapers on microfilm; those prior to 

1877 are indexed and were searched for articles on Poplar Grove. Due to lack of index, 

the post-1877 newspapers were not searched. 

Virginia Tech “Imagebase” (collection of online historical photographs), http://spec.

lib.vt.edu/imagebase/. Searched under Petersburg, National Cemetery, and Dinwiddie 

County. No relevant materials found.

Appendix K
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328

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

Boston National Historical Park

Charlestown Navy Yard, Quarters C

Boston, Massachusetts 02129

Phone: 617-241-6954

Fax: 617-241-3952

web: www.nps.gov/oclp/