Search Arlington Cemetery's Gravesites and Map Online

As a longtime genealogist, the many research oriented, and free, databases that can be found online are incredibly important to locating information regarding ancestors.

Per NPR's article about the Arlington National Cemetery website, the site now includes nearly 260,000 photographs of the gravestones, the niches and the columbaria within the acreage. Each photo was then linked to the cemetery's own digital mapping system. So, as a genealogist, I can find the resting place and the map information and the photograph of the marker for those family members that are interred here. There are app searches available for those with Apple, Android and Blackberry mobile devices. I will primarily address how to do a desktop search for burials. Your search begins by going to the proper link for desktop devices. You will be asked if you wish to use known information or search by map location. Once there, you will be on the official search page and will be asked to supply as much info as possible to find the grave.

On the search page, you will have the opportunity to list the last name, the first name, and the person's middle name or initial. You can also search by the date of birth or the date of death if known. If you know the section or grave site, you can add or use these numbers in the appropriate search fields. Press submit and your search starts immediately.

My first search was merely the name Cator. I was given two sites with information and pictures. How great is that? It is very great! The first was Cator, John E. with his dates of birth and death. The second was Ralph E. Cator with his death date. Both did, indeed, include great pictures and each was marked on the cemetery map for ease in locating the specific graves. I tried Cator in the last name box and R in the first name box and I still got to Ralph. I tried R* and got no responses to my query. Evidently wildcards do not work in this version.

Then, I went to my website, catorfamily.com, and searched for anything within my large site that mentioned Arlington. I found I have some information on a Russell Oliver De Vaughn. Let the search begin! I keyed in his full name on the name fields. I mispelled his last name as Devaugh. My results? Nothing. So I checked my spelling and changed it to De Vaugh. Still nothing. Then I dropped his middle name to just his initial. Success! From this I learned that exactness to the database can be critical or your results are zero. My search was very successful with Russell O. De Vaughn as it matched their database. I also happened to know that De Vaughn was buried in Section 37, Site 1355 so I did a map search. Bingo!

My website also showed that Dustin Harriman was interred at Arlington. I tried variations of his name. I was unsuccessful. Hum. My info may be wrong, or the database is being glitchy.

I also have an ancestor named Hershel M. Chevalier. Surely there are only a few with that surname, so I keyed only Chevalier and was well rewarded as his wife Irene is also buried there and the gravestone indicates this with his name and data on one side, and Irene's name and data and the site information on the back of the gravestone. Nice.

Arlington's website for this database indicates that the map, which can be panned by clicking and dragging with your mouse, is the primary component of the site. The map can be viewed in hybrid, imagery, or map format.

Some other Arlington features: You can go mobile and install an app on your iPhone, Android or Blackberry devices. You can even use your phone's QR Code reader to scan the app code provided. You may also want to check out planned events at the cemetery by choosing the view events button instead of the search feature. Know of someone famous buried at Arlington? Just choose the button called notable graves and you will receive a list.

Happy searching.