Arlington National Cemetery to Announce Sesquicentennial Plans in August

Arlington National Cemetery, considered by many to be this country's most hallowed grounds, turns 150 years old next year.

The cemetery will announce in mid-August its plans to mark the occasion. The celebration will occur over nearly five weeks in the summer of 2014.

"We are looking to do something each week. There will be tours, speakers, and ceremonies," spokeswoman Jennifer Lynch told Patch in an email. "We're really excited!!!"

The first military burial at Arlington National Cemetery occurred on May 13, 1864. U.S. Army Pvt. William Christman was interred in Section 27.

The federal government established Arlington as a national cemetery on June 15, 1864.

And so, next year's sesquicentennial commemoration will generally take place during that five-week window.

In 1864, as the Civil War entered its third year, cemeteries in and around Washington were filled to capacity. The U.S. Army began burying soldiers along the northern edge of the estate that had once belonged to Robert E. Lee, according to the National Park Service.

The first burials were about a half-mile from Lee's mansion, which today is known as the Arlington House.

The Union had occupied the area for three years and the federal government formally bought the property in January 1864, according to NPS.

When Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs was tasked with finding a new cemetery, he proposed the site in Arlington — which U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton approved that same day: June 15, 1864.

Click here for more information about the creation of Arlington National Cemetery.