Chalmette National Cemetery: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve - Chalmette Unit, National Park Service

Risk, Kevin; Hasty, David

Chalmette National Cemetery is a 17.3-acre tract of designed landscape delimited by a brick-walled enclosure alongside the eastern edge of Chalmette Battlefield. It is located in Chalmette, Louisiana, approximately six miles southeast of downtown New Orleans and along the bank of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established in 1864 for the interment of Union soldiers killed during the Civil War in Louisiana. Historically called Monument Cemetery, it was administered by the War Department from 1868 until 1933, when it was turned over to the National Park Service and incorporated into the Chalmette National Historical Park. The period of significance for the landscape, 1864-1933, corresponds to the War Development Era that influenced the design and development of this commemorative landscape. As a designed landscape, the Chalmette National Cemetery draws importance from its developmental association with the Civil War and from the aesthetic qualities expressed in its construction. In 1864, the city ceded a tract of land to the U.S. Government for use as a cemetery, and most earthworks and buildings remaining from the Civil War occupation were removed during its early development years. Over its period of use, the site expanded to hold over 15,000 burials and currently includes casualties and veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and several veterans of the War of 1812. Prior to its creation as a military cemetery, the land served as burial ground for former slaves and free African-American individuals, who were later relocated to an unidentified location outside the western cemetery wall. Historic features include the 1929 brick cemetery lodge and carriage house complex, which now serves as park administrative and maintenance headquarters; an ornamental iron entrance gate from the War Department Era (1864-1933); the distinctive post-and-panel brick walls which enclose the cemetery; the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Monument, erected in 1882 to honor Union war dead; and several remnant allees of live oak and sycamore. The site also contains topographic traces of the British advance battery from the Battle of New Orleans (1815). Although this predates the cemetery’s design and therefore does not contribute to its integrity as a cultural landscape, it is a significant feature in the overall battlefield landscape. The qualities of the Chalmette Cemetery must be considered in their entirety to determine the integrity of the existing landscape. Even though the features that define the character of the cemetery developed over a significant expanse of time, they contribute to an overall coherence of intent that relates to the origins of the cemetery. The surrounding landscape has been altered significantly through industrialization, riverfront levees, highway development, and loss of many of the shade trees that once gave shape to the cemetery. It remains significant for its association with the Civil War, but that association has evolved as casualties from other battles were added. The cemetery is significant for its design lineage, demonstrating developing trends in commemorative landscape design as administered by the War Department. The two components that comprise the Chalmette Unit of the park - the Chalmette Battlefield and Chalmette National Cemetery - are listed as a combined district on the National Register of Historic Places despite having different developmental histories, purposes, and management needs. They are considered as two separate landscapes in the Cultural Landscape Inventory.

Chalmette National Cemetery: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve - Chalmette Unit, National Park Service

Series

Collections