Zachary Taylor National Cemetery Zachary Taylor National Cemetery , located at 4701 Brownsboro Road ( 42 ) , in northeast Louisville , Kentucky ( near Saint Matthews , Kentucky ) is a national cemetery where former President of the United States Zachary Taylor and his first lady Margaret Taylor are buried . Zachary Taylor National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 3 , 1983 . Presently , the cemetery has 13 , 486 interments . It is one of seven national cemeteries in the commonwealth of Kentucky , and one of 112 in the entire United States of America . Those buried at the national cemetery served in six wars : Spanish - American War , World War I , World War II , Korean War , Vietnam War , and the Persian Gulf War . The cemetery started as the family cemetery of Zachary Taylor ' s family . Also buried at the site are Taylor ' s parents , Richard Taylor , who was a colonel in the American Revolutionary War , and Sarah Strother Taylor . President Taylor ' s son , Richard Taylor , who was a general for the Confederate States of America , is buried at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans . History . The land which became Zachary Taylor National Cemetery was part of Richard Taylor ' s estate , known as Springfield , given to him due to his service in the American Revolutionary War . The house the family lived in for most of their time in Louisville is still nearby , and is called the Zachary Taylor House . On November 1 , 1850 , Zachary Taylor was buried at his family ' s burial ground ; he had initially been buried at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington , D . C . . In 1883 , the commonwealth of Kentucky placed a fifty foot monument near Zachary Taylor ' s grave . It is topped by a life - sized statue of Zachary Taylor . In 1930 a sundial was placed to further memorialize Zachary Taylor . The Taylor family in the 1920s initiated the effort to turn the Taylor burial grounds into a national cemetery . The commonwealth of Kentucky donated two pieces of land for the project , turning the half - acre Taylor family cemetery into . However , the Army judge advocate general ruled against attaining the Taylor cemetery ; the Taylor graves are within the walls of the national cemetery , but are the one part of the national cemetery not owned by the government of United States of America ( although the National Cemetery Administration does take care of the Taylor graves as it does the rest of the national cemetery ) . However , when the national cemetery was created , a new mausoleum was built for Zachary Taylor ; it was made of limestone with a granite base , with a marble interior . There have been several attempts to increase the size of the cemetery , but each time local interests stopped the growth . The National Cemetery made the national news on June 17 , 1991 , when Zachary Taylor was exhumed to see if he had been poisoned , and if that was his actual cause of death . Today . As of 2007 , the cemetery has 13 , 486 interments ( up from 13 , 321 interments in 2004 ) , and is currently closed to new interments . However , space may be available in the same grave site for eligible family members . It is administered by the National Cemetery Administration , a part of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . The cemetery is the burial site of two Medal of Honor recipients , Sergeant Willie Sandlin ( World War I ) , United States Army , and Sergeant John C . Squires ( World War II ) , United States Army . Members of the Taylor family are buried in an area now at the back of the national cemetery . Zachary Taylor was originally buried in a tomb , but was later placed in the marble mausoleum in 1926 ; both still stand to this day . Also buried in the area of the original Taylor family cemetery are W . G . L . Taylor , who was a captain for the Confederate States of America , and other family members , including the president ' s parents . Soldiers from Fort Knox engage in a wreath - laying ceremony every November 24 , which marks Zachary Taylor ' s birthday .