Salisbury National Cemetery

Salisbury National Cemetery
Company type	United States national cemetery
Industry	Cemetery
Founded	1863
Headquarters	Salisbury, United States
Area served	Rowan County, North Carolina, United States
Owner	United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Website	www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/salisbury.asp

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Salisbury National Cemetery, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 7 August 2025

Salisbury National Cemetery, situated in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina, was established to inter Union soldiers who perished at the Confederate prisoner of war camp during the American Civil War. Overseen by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the cemetery spans , comprising at its original grounds and within an annex. In 2020, more than 30 acres were added to the annex following a donation from the YMCA.

By 2012, the cemetery contained approximately 6,500 interments—including numerous spouse burials—and about 3,800 individuals laid to rest in 18 mass graves at the original site. The annex held around 5,000 interments distributed across 4,500 graves. As of 2020, both locations combined had become the final resting place for roughly 26,000 veterans and their family members.

Salisbury Prison

After North Carolina's secession in May 1861, Confederate forces converted a deserted cotton mill near a railroad in Rowan County into a military prison. This three-story brick mill, formerly owned by Salisbury Manufacturing and Maxwell Chambers, was acquired from Davidson College by the Confederacy. The prison complex later expanded with additional cottages and a stockade. The prisoner population increased from 120 in December 1861 to about 1,400 by May 1862.

At first, inmates received sufficient care and engaged in leisure activities such as baseball—a pastime recorded in a notable illustration by Maj. Otto Boetticher. However, by October 1864, overcrowding surged to nearly 10,000 prisoners within a town housing only 2,000 residents. Conditions deteriorated sharply, causing death rates to climb from 2% to as high as 28%, which necessitated burial in mass graves.

In February 1865, thousands of prisoners were transferred to other camps. When Union General George Stoneman arrived in spring 1865, he discovered the prison deserted and ordered its destruction; today only one guardhouse on Bank Street remains standing.

Archaeological investigations conducted in 1983 and again in 2005 revealed elements of the original site. In August 2017, ground-penetrating radar identified a former barracks building on Bank Street. Subsequent excavations in November 2018 uncovered construction materials believed to have been salvaged after the war. These discoveries, presented in March 2019, indicate that further excavation could clarify the full extent of the prison grounds.

Cemetery

Initially, Confederate forces buried prisoners who died at Salisbury Prison close to the prison complex. Confederate General T.W. Hall reported that between October 1864 and February 1865, a total of 10,321 prisoners arrived; of these, 2,918 died at the hospital and approximately 3,479 were interred. Many were laid to rest without coffins in eighteen trench graves located in what was once a cornfield, making precise counts difficult. While an 1875 monument records about 11,700 burials, recent studies estimate roughly 3,800 individuals are buried in mass graves.

The original fencing around these mass graves was replaced with a stone wall. Following the American Civil War, the site was designated as a National Cemetery for Union soldiers' remains relocated from nearby cemeteries. Over time, it expanded to accommodate veterans from subsequent conflicts.

20th century to present

In 1999, Salisbury National Cemetery earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

By 1994, forecasts predicted that burial space would be exhausted by 1997, restricting new interments to spouses of those already buried. Land additions made in 1976, 1985, and 1995 increased the cemetery's size to approximately 12.5 acres with around 5,800 burials recorded. By late 1999, officials recognized that no space remained and sought federal support.

On Memorial Day of that year, the Veterans Administration contributed roughly at the W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center grounds in Salisbury for cemetery expansion. This tract included land formerly occupied by Brookdale Golf Course, donated by Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post and operated until its closure in the late 1980s.

This enlargement created room for an additional estimated 20,000 veterans and family members over a period spanning five to seven decades. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Pearl Harbor Day in 1999; the first burial at this new section occurred in March of the following year.

In April 2000, another was incorporated into the cemetery’s holdings. A $2.8 million development project commenced in 2002 on former golf course land covering , designed to provide space for an extra 12,000 interments.

Construction began on November 14, 2011 for a new columbarium offering capacity for approximately 1,000 niches intended to serve needs over ten years; existing columbarium spaces were nearing full occupancy. Additionally, the cemetery introduced about 2,400 "pre-placed in-ground crypts," which enable up to 1,500 burials per acre compared with roughly 700 for traditional grave plots.

By Memorial Day of 2012, new burials at the original cemetery—home to around 7,000 markers—were restricted solely to spouses; meanwhile, the annex contained approximately 4,000 markers and remained North Carolina’s only national cemetery open for new interments.

In January 2020, Rowan County’s YMCA donated more than thirty acres to expand the annex’s capacity further into the future—extending burial availability through at least the year 2065.

Interred Numbers in Trenches

In 1869, Brevet General L. Thomas estimated that approximately 11,700 individuals were buried after excavating two trenches—a figure that was subsequently inscribed on the monument dedicated to unknown soldiers. Nevertheless, Louis A. Brown's investigations indicate the actual number is nearer to 3,800. Mark Hughes from Kings Mountain, North Carolina, has pushed for revising the monument and installing grave markers for the 3,500 identified soldiers, based on records such as the 1868 Roll of Honor, referencing federal regulations mandating markers in national cemeteries. As of 2014, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had no intentions to make alterations due to challenges in confirming identities with certainty. An interpretive panel introduced in 2009 incorporates the latest research findings, and efforts to digitize the 1868 Roll of Honor were underway in 2014.

Significant Monuments

The Federal Monument to the Unknown Dead: a granite obelisk standing 38 feet tall, constructed in 1875 at a cost of $10,000.
A 25-foot granite memorial crowned by a soldier statue, erected by Maine in 1908.
The Pennsylvania Monument: a granite-based structure reaching 40 feet in height, completed in 1909.

Prominent Interments

Red Prysock (1926–1993), veteran and renowned R&B tenor saxophonist
Earl B. Ruth (1916–1989), former U.S. Representative and Governor of American Samoa
John William Smith (1927–2002), notable participant in the 1967 Newark riots (interred in Annex)
Private "Rupert Vincent" (Robert A. Livingstone), eldest son of Dr. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer

External links