Information Panel: A Place of Division and Reunification

Information Panel: A Place of Division and Reunification

NPS / Claire Hassler

Quick Facts

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

A Working Plantation

What is now Arlington National Cemetery was once part of the 1,100-acre Arlington Plantation. Beginning in 1802, George Washington Parke Custis had this mansion built to memorialize his adoptive grandfather, George Washington. Prior to the Civil War, more than 200 enslaved people lived on this plantation. Cabins, workshops, fields, and even a slave cemetery dotted this land. Here, a community - black and white - built homes, raised families, and struggled with questions of loyalty and freedom.

Image caption: A watercolor of Arlington House, painted by Benson Lossin in 1853.

When the Civil War broke out, the Potomac River - to your right - became the dividing line between North and South. Shortly after Robert E. Lee resigned from the US Army in 1861, Union soldiers seized Arlington House. 

Sixty years later, a nation still healing from the Civil War built Arlington Memorial Bridge. This bridge connected the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington House.

Image caption: Arlington Plantation was a strategic defense for Washington, DC, and the mansion became headquarters for several Union officers.

1778

Martha Washington's son, John Parke Custis, buys the land that will become Arlington Plantation. Custis later dies in the Revolutionary War, leaving the property to his son, George Washington Parke Custis.

1802

G.W.P. Custis decides to build a home and memorial to George Washington on this property. Enslaved and free laborers begin construction of the mansion.

1831

Mary Custis, G.W.P. Custis's daughter, marries Robert E. Lee in the family parlor.

1861

As the Civil War breaks out, the Lees leave Arlington House. Union soldiers occupy the estate.

1864

The first military burials take place on the property, marking the beginning of Arlington National Cemetery.

1925

As law authorizes restoring Custis-Lee Mansion (Arlington House), then used as a cemetery administrative building, to its historic appearance.

1933

The National Park Service takes over management of Arlington House

1955

President Eisenhower signs legislation making Arlington House a permanent national memorial to Robert E. Lee.

1975

President Gerald Ford pardons Robert E. Lee on August 5, 1975 after the discovery of Lee's amnesty oath signed by Lee in 1865.