Washington Crossing National Cemetery

Washington Crossing National Cemetery is a VA national cemetery in Newtown, Pennsylvania. VA lists it as open for burials. Burial is free for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependent children.

Source: National Cemetery Administration (cem.va.gov), retrieved May 2026

History of Washington Crossing National Cemetery

In 1681, King Charles II of England granted a sizable piece of his land holdings in America to William Penn to satisfy a debt owed to the Penn family. The next year, Penn established the three original counties in the Pennsylvania Colony, including Bucks County. Immigrants, primarily from the British Isles and Germany, arrived and settled on small farms, producing potash, wheat, salted pork and other products.

During the Revolutionary War, in the summer and fall of 1776, General George Washington's Continental Army suffered a series of losses in New York and New Jersey. By December, the British offensive forced General Washington and his troops to withdraw into Pennsylvania and decamp in Bucks County. The general was in desperate need of a military victory to resuscitate the morale of his army and the American public.

General Washington suspected that the British were complacent after their successes, and sought an offensive maneuver that might catch them off guard. On the night of December 25–26, 1776, Washington led his troops across the Delaware River in the first movement of a surprise attack against Hessian forces in British service. The Continental Army won the subsequent Battle of Trenton and provided the Americans with a much-needed victory.

The Delaware River crossing was more than a strategic triumph. It grew to symbolize both Washington's heroism and the resiliency of the burgeoning republic at one of the darkest hours of the revolution. German artist Emmanuel Leutze depicted this momentous event in his 1849 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware, to inspire supporters of democracy and greater political representation in Germany in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Revolutions of 1848. The idealized and historically inaccurate scene has become an iconic depiction of the crossing; copies hang in the White House and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Today, both sides of the Delaware River are preserved as part of the Washington Crossing National Historic Landmark district, composed of Washington Crossing Historic Park on the Pennsylvania side, and Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey.

The character of Bucks County continued to be primarily agricultural throughout the 19th century and into the next, with pockets of industrial activity near the Delaware River. Suburbanization accelerated after World War II as the economy expanded, automobile ownership increased, and the extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike stimulated local housing construction. Levittown, an early subdivision developed by the pioneering suburban developer Levitt & Sons, is located in the southern part of Bucks County. In 1951, U.S. Steel opened a mill in Bucks County, which sparked even more growth.

Today, Bucks County is suburban in areas nearest to the Delaware River. The northern region is more pastoral, and is popular with tourists in search of natural scenery, historic covered bridges, and the location of General Washington's crossing.

Washington Crossing National Cemetery is located approximately three miles southwest from the location where General Washington crossed the Delaware River. The cemetery is located on land that William Penn deeded to Euro-American settlers in 1698, and was used as farmland for centuries. In 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs purchased the property from Dolington Land, L.P., a subsidiary of the homebuilding company Toll Brothers. The cemetery was formally dedicated in 2009 and opened for burials the following year. Washington Crossing National Cemetery is the fourth national cemetery established in Pennsylvania and the 131st in the national cemetery system.

Notable interments

The National Cemetery Administration lists these people of note buried at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, with section and site where recorded.

Directions

From Philadelphia International Airport: Take Interstate 95 North for approximately 36 miles to exit 49. Turn left onto Yardley Newtown Road/PA Highway 332 West (Newtown Bypass) for 0.8 miles, then turn right at Lindenhurst Road. Travel 2.3 miles, then turn left at PA Highway 532/Washington Crossing Road, then turn right at Highland Road.

From Interstate 95 South, take exit 49. Turn right onto Yardley Newtown Road/PA Hwy 332 West (Newtown Bypass) for 0.6 miles, then turn right at Lindenhurst Road and travel 2.3 miles. Turn left at PA Hwy 532/Washington Crossing Road, then turn right at Highland Road.

Flowers and grounds rules

You can place fresh cut flowers on your loved one's grave throughout the year.

Floral items will be removed from graves when they become faded or unsightly. They may also be removed to allow mowing. Government supplied plastic flower containers are available for your use and located within the cemetery.

Who can be buried at Washington Crossing National Cemetery?

VA national cemeteries accept a veteran who didn't receive a dishonorable discharge, a service member who died on active duty or in training, the veteran's spouse or surviving spouse (even if they remarried), and minor or, in some cases, unmarried adult dependent children. National Guard and Reserve members qualify under narrower rules. You can ask VA for a pre-need eligibility decision in advance; it does not reserve a gravesite.

What does burial here include at no cost?

• A gravesite in any VA national cemetery with available space
• Opening and closing of the grave
• A government-provided burial liner
• A government-provided headstone or marker
• Perpetual care of the gravesite

Veterans also receive a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate (presented to the next of kin at the burial) and military funeral honors, which include the playing of Taps and two uniformed service members who present the flag. The committal service is held at a committal shelter, not at the grave, and lasts about 20 minutes. National cemeteries have no viewing facilities, so the funeral itself is held elsewhere.

How do you schedule a burial at Washington Crossing National Cemetery?

1. Gather the veteran's DD214 or other discharge papers, and the deceased's details (Social Security number, dates of birth and death, relationship to the veteran).
2. Fax the discharge papers to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 866-900-6417, or email them to [email protected] with the deceased's name in the subject line.
3. You or the funeral director call 800-535-1117 (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET) to request Washington Crossing National Cemetery and a date. National cemeteries hold burials Monday through Friday.

Where is the Washington Crossing National Cemetery burial schedule?

VA posts a daily burial schedule for every national cemetery. Search it for Washington Crossing National Cemetery to see the committal services planned there. It only lists burials whose families agreed to publish them. To change or cancel a burial that's already scheduled, contact Washington Crossing National Cemetery directly at 215-222-7510.

Headstone, flag and burial allowance

• Government headstone or marker: tell the scheduling office which headstone, marker, niche cover or medallion you want when you schedule the burial.
• Burial flag: VA Form 27-2008.
• Burial allowance: For a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2026, VA pays up to $1,032 toward burial and funeral costs and $1,032 for a plot; for a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, the burial allowance is up to $2,000. Claim it with VA Form 21P-530EZ. All benefits

After the funeral: survivor benefits and the estate

A surviving spouse, child or parent may qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), a tax-free monthly VA benefit, for example when the death was service connected (VA Form 21P-534EZ). The veteran's estate is settled under Pennsylvania law; our sister site ProbateUS explains how probate works in Pennsylvania and lists each county's probate court. For the rest of the paperwork, from Social Security to bank accounts, DeathUS has a step-by-step checklist of what to do when someone dies.

Nearest cemeteries

The three veterans cemeteries closest to Washington Crossing National Cemetery, by straight-line distance:

• Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, NJ: 15 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
• Philadelphia National Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA: 19 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
• Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Wrightstown, NJ: 22 mi, open for burials