Taking its name from the nearby Confederate fortification, part of the Richmond defenses in Henrico County, Fort Harrison National Cemetery was established in May 1866. Of the 1,522 total interments, the majority of which are known and unknown Civil War dead, most were killed in the fighting around Richmond in 1864. One, Pvt. George A. Buchanan, of the 148th New York Infantry, fell on September 29, 1864 while attacking a Confederate Battery at Fort Harrison and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Four others died while prisoners of war. Many buried in the cemetery were soldiers of the United States Colored Troops. The Second Empire-style superintendent’s lodge was built in 1871 from a design by Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs. The largest monument in the Fort Harrison National Cemetery is a seacoast artillery tube set in a concrete base. This was one of a number of Civil War Era National Cemeteries that were listed under Multiple Property Documentation (MPD).
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia