Histopolis Place-of-the-Day

The Histopolis Place-of-the-Day for Tuesday, November 23, 2010 is Puerto Rico National Cemetery in Bayamón, Bayamón Municipio, Puerto Rico.

"The Puerto Rico National Cemetery is located on the north side of the island in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and is approximately 13 miles from San Juan, the capital. The cemetery serves as an American presence on the island and many distinguished Puerto Ricans who served in the U.S. military are interred there.

"Prior to becoming a national cemetery, the land where the cemetery is now located was owned by the U.S. Navy and it was used as a machine gun range. After World War II, the land was transferred to the Department of the Army specifically for the construction of a new national cemetery. Negotiations for construction of the cemetery began after the land was transferred on July 12, 1948 and the private firm of Font & Montilla was contracted to build the cemetery.

"The 108.2-acre cemetery was dedicated on Veteran’s Day in 1949 and it is the only national cemetery located in Puerto Rico. According to El Diario, the local newspaper, the dedication was attended by both local and military officials such as Luis Munoz-Marin, the Governor of Puerto Rico, and Major General Herman Feldman, the Quartermaster of the U.S. Army. In his remarks during the dedication, Feldman noted that, “practically every family in Puerto Rico had a representative in uniform during World War II.” Since its dedication, Puerto Rico National Cemetery has been a shrine to Puerto Ricans who served in the armed forces.

"The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 26, 1983."

Source: Cemeteries - Puerto Rico National Cemetery - Burial and Memorial Benefits

The Histopolis Grave Index for Puerto Rico National Cemetery contains 44,060 entries with 16,549 unique surnames.

Explore Puerto Rico National Cemetery on Histopolis now. If you have a place that you would like to see featured as the Histopolis Place-of-the-Day, contact the webmaster to suggest it.