NEW JERSEY
Beverly National Cemetery
Beverly National Cemetery is a historic U.S. military cemetery located in Burlington County, New Jersey, at 916 Bridgeboro Road in the Edgewater Park area near the Delaware River. It was established in 1863 during the Civil War, originally as a very small one-acre burial ground created to inter Union soldiers who died at a nearby military hospital.
Over time, it expanded significantly through the late 19th and early 20th centuries to its present size of about 64 acres, eventually becoming part of the national system of veterans cemeteries overseen by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Today it contains more than 50,000 burials representing a wide span of American military history, including Civil War soldiers, Spanish–American War veterans, and service members from both World Wars as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Among its interments are Civil War-era Medal of Honor recipients, which adds to its historical importance, though it does not contain many widely recognized public figures and is instead significant primarily as an early and long-standing veterans burial site.
Because of its age and historical value, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The cemetery is generally closed to new full interments except in limited cases such as existing family plots, but it remains open to visitors daily and is still actively maintained as both a working veterans cemetery and a preserved historic site honoring generations of U.S. military service members.
New Jersey Veterans Memorial Cemetery
The New Jersey Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Sparta (also known as the Northern New Jersey Veterans Memorial Cemetery) is a state-affiliated veterans burial ground in Sparta, Sussex County, New Jersey. It is dedicated to providing a dignified final resting place for eligible U.S. military veterans and their qualifying family members.
Unlike nearby civilian cemeteries such as Sparta Cemetery, this site is specifically reserved for those who have served in the armed forces. Burials typically include veterans from major conflicts such as World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, as well as later-era service members from all branches of the military. Eligibility generally extends to honorably discharged veterans, and in many cases, their spouses and dependents as well.
The cemetery is relatively modern and still developing, meaning it has hundreds (rather than tens of thousands) of interments and does not yet contain widely known national figures or historically prominent individuals. Instead, it primarily honors everyday service members, many of whom were from northern New Jersey communities.
Its design and operation emphasize military honor and uniformity, with standardized grave markers, organized burial sections, and the provision of military funeral honors such as flag presentation and taps when available. The cemetery exists to serve families locally, reducing the need to travel long distances to larger national cemeteries while ensuring veterans receive respectful recognition.
Overall, the Sparta veterans cemetery functions as a regional memorial site focused on honoring ordinary military service, rather than a historic landmark or burial place of notable public figures.
