VA national cemetery
Lexington National Cemetery
Lexington, Kentucky
Location
833 W Main Street
Lexington, KY 40508
Visiting
- Address
- 833 W Main Street, Lexington, KY 40508
- Phone
- 859-885-5727
- Visiting hours
- Open daily from dawn to dusk.
- Office hours
- Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays.
- Time zone
- Eastern Time
- Burial space
- Closed
- Accessibility
- Not yet verified
- Official page
- cem.va.gov
Flowers and grounds policy, from the VA
Lexington National Cemetery is not responsible for any items left at gravesites.
Floral arrangements (up to six) accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed gravesite by cemetery staff. Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.
Temporary metal containers, provided by the cemetery, are available at various sites on cemetery grounds. Please limit one per gravesite. Cemetery provided floral containers are the only floral containers allowed in the cemetery. Perma-vases are not permitted nor are they sold at Lexington National Cemetery.
Artificial flowers and/or potted plants, in unbreakable containers only (cardboard, plastic, metal), are permitted on gravesites from October 10 until April 15. They will also be permitted on graves 10 days before and 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.
Items are subject to removal on the first and third Fridays during mowing season, and depending on the added frequency of mowing more often, up to twice a week. Depending on the growing season, artificial flowers/potted plants may have to be removed to accommodate the early mowing season, up to twice per week.
Christmas wreaths, grave blankets, and related arrangements will be permitted on graves from December 1 until January 20. Grave floral blankets may not be larger than two by three feet, please do not wrap them in plastic, as it destroys the turf.
Floral items and other decorations may not be attached to headstones or markers. Floral stands and saddles are prohibited.
Unauthorized decorations such as permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, upright metal flag holders, and breakable objects of any kind and similar commemorative items are not permitted on the gravesites or on the monuments.
Understanding that families may desire to keep certain floral arrangements, we have in place a procedure that, upon the family's written request, cemetery personnel will place the arrangement in a designated location for 30 days, after which, arrangements will be disposed of.
The staff at Lexington National Cemetery want to thank you for your cooperation in helping us to make this cemetery a national shrine, a final resting place of Honor and Dignity in memory of the veterans of this great nation.
Weapons Policy
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
General information, from the VA
This cemetery is supervised by the Kentucky National Cemetery Complex. Please call 859-885-5727 for further information. In the event you are unable to reach us, please call Lebanon National Cemetery at 270-692-3390 and someone will assist you.
Directions from Nearest Airport
Cemetery is located in the city of Lexington. The nearest airport is Lexington Blue Grass Airport. Take Versailles Road to Circle 4 West to Leestown Road onto Lexington's Main Street. The National Cemetery is located within the Lexington Cemetery.
Pay your respects
Visitors to veterans’ graves sometimes leave a coin on the headstone to show that someone came. You can leave a symbolic coin here. No money is involved, and nothing about you is published. About the custom, and what each coin is said to mean.
History
Reproduced from the VA National Cemetery Administration’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026. This is the VA’s text, unedited; it is not independent research by this site.
Lexington National Cemetery originated in 1861 as a small soldier's lot within Lexington City Cemetery, a place that in its heyday was considered "one of the most beautiful and carefully kept rural cemeteries in the United States." The first burial in the soldier's lot was made during the Civil War on November 28, 1861. In 1863, the soldiers' lot was designated a national cemetery. In 1867, the government purchased an additional 0.38 acres that doubled the cemetery's size to its current three-quarters of an acre.
The cemetery tract is triangular, with graves arranged in concentric circles. Its boundaries are marked by carved marble posts emblazoned with "US." A bronze plaque identifies this property as Lexington National Cemetery. Of the original burials, 671 were non-commissioned officers and privates who died in hospitals or camps operating around Lexington during the war. After the war, Quartermaster Corps personnel were charged with locating all Union soldier's remains and re-interring them in national cemeteries. Additional soldiers who had fallen in battles at Falmouth, Cynthiana, Mount Sterling, Paris and along the Kentucky Central Railroad line were buried at Lexington National Cemetery.
The soldier's portion closed to burials in 1939, but it and the surrounding city cemetery remain a neatly maintained and picturesque burial ground. It was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Monuments and Memorials
By 1869, a 32-pound seacoast artillery gun was mounted vertically as a memorial, like those found in many other national cemeteries, but it was removed early in the 20th century. There are no monuments or memorials in the cemetery today.
Notable burials and memorials
Reproduced from the VA’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026, including Medal of Honor recipients where the VA lists them. Links lead to the VA’s own records. To correct an entry, contact the VA; to tell us our copy is out of date, report it.
Nearby veterans cemeteries
Sources
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Find a Cemetery: all national cemeteries, and each cemetery’s own page. U.S. government work (public domain). Retrieved November 11, 2026. Used for: name, address, phone and burial-space status, hours, policies, history and notable burials.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Lexington National Cemetery (official cemetery page). Retrieved November 11, 2026.
- Map position: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. VA National Cemetery Sites (dataset).