67 Best Sights in USA

Some of Auburn's most famous residents are buried at Fort Hill, an outstanding example of the parklike burial grounds resulting from the rural-cemetery movement of the early 1800s. Rising over a middle-class residential and commercial neighborhood near downtown, Fort Hill is a great place for a quiet walk under giant trees and for views of the city. Among those buried here are William H. Seward, who served in the cabinets of two U.S. presidents; Harriet Tubman, who liberated hundreds of slaves; and Captain Myles Keogh, who fought (and died) alongside General George Custer at Little Big Horn.

In 1934, eight of the 1,000 acres set aside for a military reserve in 1852 were designated as a burial site. More than 100,000 people are now interred here; it's moving to see the rows upon rows of white headstones that overlook both sides of Point Loma just north of the Cabrillo National Monument. Some of those laid to rest here were killed in battles that predate California's statehood; the graves of the 17 soldiers and one civilian who died in the 1874 Battle of San Pasqual between troops from Mexico and the United States are marked by a large bronze plaque. The 75-foot granite obelisk, the Bennington Monument, commemorates the 66 crew members who died in a boiler explosion and fire onboard the USS Bennington in 1905.

After you pass the town of Oak Grove on Route 3, all signs point to the national park on the Potomac River. At Pope's Creek, George Washington Birthplace National Monument is a 550-acre park mirroring the peaceful rural life our first president preferred. The house in which Mary Ball Washington gave birth to George in 1732 burned in 1779, but native clay was used to make bricks for a representative 18th-century plantation home. Costumed interpreters lead tours through the house, which has items dating back to the time of Washington's childhood. The grounds include a kitchen, garden, cemetery with 32 Washington family graves, and the Colonial Living Farm, worked by methods employed in Colonial days. Picnic facilities are available year-round, and children under 15 are admitted free.

Also known as Soldiers' National Cemetery, this is the final resting place for more than 3,500 Union soldiers who died on the battlefield. Dedicated by President Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address, the cemetery is also where some 3,000 veterans of subsequent conflicts were laid to rest. A stroll through the beautiful grounds past row after row of white grave markers is a sobering reminder of the cost of war. 

Many people travel the mile past Oheo Gulch to pay their respects to Charles Lindbergh, who was buried beside Palapala Hoomau Congregational Church in 1974. The world-renowned aviator chose this as his final resting place because he and his wife, writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh, spent a lot of time in a home they built in the area. The simple one-room church sits on a bluff over the sea, with the small graveyard on the ocean side. The views from here are gorgeous. Since this is a churchyard, be considerate and leave everything exactly as you found it. Next door is a small county park that's a good place for a peaceful picnic.

Designed in a garden style along the banks of the James River, the cemetery requires at least an hour to stroll through the grounds. Many noted Virginians are buried here, including presidents John Tyler and James Monroe; Confederate president Jefferson Davis; and generals Fitzhugh Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, and George E. Pickett. Pets are allowed on leashes.

Since his death in 1970, the famed guitarist has rested in Greenwood Cemetery, at first with just a simple tombstone. In 2002, the singer's remains moved to this much more elaborate tribute, with domed roof and granite columns.

You can learn almost as much about a town's history through its cemetery as through its historic houses. Key West's celebrated 20-acre burial place may leave you wanting more, with headstone epitaphs such as "I told you I was sick" and, for a wayward husband, "Now I know where he's sleeping at night." Among the interesting plots are a memorial to the sailors killed in the sinking of the battleship USS Maine, carved angels and lambs marking graves of children, and grand aboveground crypts that put to shame many of the town's dwellings for the living. There are separate plots for Catholics, Jews, and refugees from Cuba. You're free to walk around the cemetery on your own, but the best way to see it is on a 90-minute tour given by the staff and volunteers of the Historic Florida Keys Foundation. Tours leave from the main gate, and reservations are required.

Whether in rain or shine, legends linger in this oldest of the city's cemeteries, its first proper burying ground. A handy map of famous grave sites is posted a short walk down the left path. Notable people buried here include Elizabeth Pain, the model for the Hester Prynne character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter; William Dawes Jr., who rode out to warn of the British invasion with Paul Revere; and John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts. This is Freedom Trail stop 5.

The largest cemetery in the metropolitan area, known to locals simply as Metairie Cemetery, is the final resting place of nine Louisiana governors, seven New Orleans mayors, and musician Louis Prima. Many of New Orleans's prominent families are also interred here in elaborate monuments ranging from Gothic crypts to Romanesque mausoleums to Egyptian pyramids. The arrangement of tombs reflects the cemetery's former life as a horse-racing track, with the tombs arranged around the perimeter and interior. Cemetery staff are happy to offer a map to anyone who asks.

One of the area's most beautiful cemeteries, dating back to 1872, looks east toward Lake Washington from its elevated hillside directly north of Volunteer Park. Several of Seattle's founding families are interred here (you will likely recognize some names from streets and public places); the graves of Bruce Lee and his son Brandon are also among the most-visited sites.

A monument to Ohio native and former President James A. Garfield stands at his tomb in Lake View Cemetery. Some of Cleveland's most renowned citizens, including oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and John Hay, President William McKinley's Secretary of State, are buried in the 285-acre cemetery. The Wade Chapel's interior was designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Self-guided tours of the grounds, cemetery, and architecture are available; the office provides maps and a tour cassette or CD ($10 deposit).

John Notman, architect of the Athenaeum and other noted local buildings, designed Laurel Hill's eastern section in 1836; it is an important example of an early rural burial ground and the first cemetery in America designed by an architect. The striking, hilly location overlooking the Schuylkill River, rare trees, and impressive monuments and mausoleums made it a popular picnic spot in the 19th century, and today it is an accredited arboretum as well as a cemetery. The 78-acre eastern necropolis in Philadelphia has a visitor center and exhibition space at the Ridge Avenue entrance. It's a tranquil place to stroll or bike, take a guided thematic tour on history or nature (fee; see website for all programs), or download an app for a self-guided tour. Among the notables buried here or in the 200-acre western section in suburban Bala Cynwood (opened in 1869 across the river) are General George Meade and 39 other Civil War–era generals. Burials still take place, so visit respectfully.

Ancient oak trees drip Spanish moss over funerary sculptures and magnificent mausoleums in this cemetery on the Cooper River. It opened in 1850, beautifully landscaped (thanks to the rural cemetery movement of the era) with paths, ponds, and lush lawns. The people of Charleston came not only to pay respects to the deceased, but also for picnicking and family outings. Similarly, visitors still find joy in the natural surroundings—and intrigue in the elaborate structures marking the graves of many prominent South Carolinians. All three crews of mariners who died aboard the Civil War sub H. L. Hunley are buried here, and more than 850 Confederate servicemen rest in the Soldiers' Ground. Walking maps are available in the front office.

Flannery O'Connor, who suffered from lupus and died at age 39, is buried at historic Memory Hill Cemetery. Literary scholars from around the world come here to pay their respects. Because Milledgeville was the capital of Georgia from 1807 to 1868, there are many early Georgia governors and legislators buried here as well.

This cemetery is one of more than 80 cemeteries found throughout the park, reminders of the people of the early 20th-century communities that once called these Kentucky hills home. Many of these cemeteries are still visited by the descendants of those buried in them, people who still live and work in the communities surrounding the park.

Formed by a glacier that left undulating terrain upon its retreat, the 196 rolling acres of this cemetery are as much a park as they are the final resting place for more than 370,000 people. Among the more famous laid to rest here are suffragist Susan B. Anthony and anti-slavery leader Frederick Douglass. The cemetery, dedicated in 1838, is one of the nation's oldest. Many headstones retain Victorian symbols such as the anchor, crown, obelisk, or sheaf of wheat. The city owns the cemetery, but a caretakers group called the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery offers tours.

Francis Scott Key—who penned "The Star Spangled Banner"—Barbara Fritchie, and the state's first governor, Thomas Johnson, rest in this cemetery, which dates to the 1850s. Tidy rows of graves (some inscribed to unknown children), pay tribute to Union and Confederate troops who perished in the battles of Antietam and Monocacy.

A cemetery might not strike you as a first choice for a visit, but this one is an absolute pleasure, filled with artwork and gorgeous landscaping. Opened in 1831, it was the country's first garden cemetery, and its bucolic landscape boasts peaceful ponds, statues (including a giant sphinx), breathtaking mausoleums, and a panorama of Boston and Cambridge from Washington Tower. More than 90,000 people have been buried here—among them Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mary Baker Eddy, Winslow Homer, Amy Lowell, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and architect Charles Bulfinch. The grave of engineer Buckminster Fuller bears an engraved geodesic dome.

In spring, local nature lovers and bird-watchers come out of the woodwork to see the warbler migrations, the glorious blossoms, and blooming trees, while later in the year nature shows off its autumnal range of glorious color. Brochures, maps, and audio tours are at the entrance, and the cemetery is a five-minute drive from the heart of Harvard Square.

The National Cemetery is the final resting place of 15,000 Union dead, most of whom have not been identified.

Nestled in the bowl of Puowaina, or Punchbowl Crater, this 112-acre cemetery is the final resting place for more than 50,000 U.S. war veterans and family members and is a solemn reminder of their sacrifice. Among those buried here is Ernie Pyle, the famed World War II correspondent who was killed by a Japanese sniper on Ie Shima, an island off the northwest coast of Okinawa. Intricate stone maps provide a visual military-history lesson. Puowaina, formed 75,000–100,000 years ago during a period of secondary volcanic activity, translates as "Hill of Sacrifice." Historians believe this site once served as an altar where ancient Hawaiians offered sacrifices to their gods. The entrance to the cemetery has wide-open views of Waikiki and Honolulu—perhaps the finest on Oahu.

Considered a best-kept secret of Washington, D.C.'s attractions, Oak Hill Cemetery functions as a public outdoor museum. Tucked away on R Street, away from the hustle and bustle of lower Georgetown, the cemetery is an idyllic space for nature and history lovers alike. Fans of George Saunders's best-selling novel Lincoln in the Bardo trek to this hillside corner of Georgetown near Rock Creek. Notable sights include a Gothic Revival chapel designed by James Renwick and the Carroll Family mausoleum, which, during the Civil War, briefly interred Abraham Lincoln's son Willie, who died in childhood from typhoid fever. In addition to visiting the places where notable figures reside, visitors will discover cenotaphs, sculptures, monuments, and inscriptions. Stop by the office for a free self-guided map.

The graves of many of Nyack's artists and writers, including Edward Hopper, Carson McCullers, and Helen Hayes, are in this cemetery.

Established in 1850 in the Victorian style, Atlanta's oldest cemetery was designed to serve as a public park as well as a burial ground. Some of the 70,000 permanent residents include six governors, five Confederate generals, and 6,900 Confederate soldiers. Also here are novelist Margaret Mitchell and golfing great Bobby Jones. You can bring a picnic lunch or take a tour conducted by the Historic Oakland Foundation. The King Memorial MARTA station on the east–west line also serves the cemetery.

In the graveyard of this church, the tombstone of the poet Robert Frost proclaims, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

One of about 80 cemeteries located within the park, this cemetery contains the resting place of famed Mammoth Cave Guide Stephen Bishop. First as an enslaved guide and then as a free man, Bishop spent almost 20 years giving tours Mammoth Cave. He is considered by many to be the cave's most famous guide and explorer. Exhibits at the site help to locate his stone within the enclosure and also discuss other African American guides of Mammoth Cave, as well as the old Mammoth Cave Estate. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the cemetery is also the final resting place to three patients from the 1842 Tuberculosis Experiment conducted in the cave.

The who’s who of the dearly departed can all be found at this peaceful, though unremarkable, cemetery. Notable residents include Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio; authors Truman Capote, Ray Bradbury, and Jackie Collins; publisher Hugh Hefner; actors Natalie Wood, Kirk Douglas, Rodney Dangerfield, Farrah Fawcett, Jack Lemmon, and Dean Martin; and directors Billy Wilder and John Cassavetes.

Nearly 3,800 former slaves are buried in this part of Arlington National Cemetery. They're all former residents of Freedman's Village, which operated at the Custis-Lee estate for more than 30 years beginning in 1863 to provide housing, education, and employment training for ex-slaves who had traveled to the capital. In the cemetery the headstones are marked with their names and the word "Civilian" or "Citizen." Buried at Grave 19 in the first row of Section 27 is William Christman, a Union private who died of peritonitis in Washington on May 12, 1864. He was the first soldier (but not the first person) interred at Arlington.

Many distinguished veterans are buried in this area of Arlington National Cemetery near the Tomb of the Unknowns, including boxing champ Joe Louis, ABC newsman Frank Reynolds, actor Lee Marvin, and World War II fighter pilot Colonel "Pappy" Boyington.

Surrounding the Old Dutch Church is the famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. It was featured in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as the site of the Headless Horseman's hauntings; some of the book's characters come from names on the gravestones. The cemetery is open daily 8:30–4:30.