Fort Snelling National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory adjacent to the historic fort and Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. It is the only National Cemetery in Minnesota. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it covers 436.3 acres, and as of June, 2024 had over 260,000 interments. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

History

Fort Snelling was a frontier fort first established in 1819. Its original purpose was to keep the peace on what was then the western frontier. During the American Civil War it served as a recruiting camp area for Minnesota volunteers. The cemetery was officially established in 1870. In 1937, the citizens of St. Paul petitioned Congress to construct a National Cemetery in the area. Two years later, the new plot was dedicated, and the burials from the original post cemetery were moved to it. In 1960, the Fort Snelling Air Force Station transferred 146 acre to the cemetery; another 177 acre were acquired in 1961, expanding the cemetery to its current size. There was a tradition of placing a flag on every grave on Memorial Day, but as the cemetery grew, the staff was forced to stop. In 2017, the nonprofit Flags for Fort Snelling revived the tradition; volunteers placed 200,000 memorial flags in 2019.

Notable interments

Medal of Honor recipients

Other

George John Weiss Jr Recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal and Founder of the Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad The cemetery contains one British Commonwealth war grave, of a Royal Canadian Air Force airman of World War II.