“Little Arlington”

“Little Arlington”. . The Baltimore National Cemetery was one of seven national cemeteries created between the World Wars, 1934-1939, It was the Army's first major expansion since the Civil War, directed at serving a growing veteran population and the rapidly depleting burial space at existing national cemeteries.

The cemetery's site was previously an historic estate called Cloud Cap (or Capped), which occupied an elevated setting adjacent to Frederick Road as early as 1750. The property was originally part of the Baltimore Company (Iron Works) holdings. The Cloud Cap estate was created when an 11-acre tract on the Frederick Turnpike was purchased from Charles Carroll of Carrollton and combined with two other tracts to make up the 76-acre estate, it extended from Frederick Road to today's Wilkens Avenue.

In 1890, socially prominent Blanchard and Susan Randall acquired the estate as a summer home. It was famed for ity mature trees, gardens and the expanded manor house. A replica of the manor house is part of the cemetery.

Nearby, the diminutive 5.2-acre Loudon Park National Cemetery was at or approaching capacity, and additional burial space was needed. The Randalls sold their property for $95,000 to the government, which took possession in 1936. The former Cloud Cap estate was converted to the Baltimore National Cemetery under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era make-work program that employed 100-150 men between 1937 and 1940.

The first interment was on, December 18, 1936 although the cemetery was not formally dedicated until Memorial Day, May 30, 1941. There are approximately 47,000 internments at this location.

The Catonsville Short Line (CSL) Railroad, completed in 1884, connected Catonsville to Baltimore City. It ran from the heart of Catonsville through Spring Grove Hospital, to Shady Nook, Paradise, Maiden Choice Lane, and passed by the Baltimore National Cemetery, a completed its route through St Charles Seminary (now, Charlestown), Loudon Park Cemetery to Calvert Station in Baltimore City. The nonprofit Catonsville Rails To Tails (CRTT) organization has converted 2.2 miles of the former Short Line right of way into a bike/hike trail.

This "Cemetery Overlook Park was created in May 2013 by students from Mount Saint Joseph High School as part of a Senior Project by Evan Smith, Paul Newman, Matt Reed and Michael Valderas and their sponsor Sheldon Smith. Funding was provided by CRTT and Sheldon Smith.

This project has been financed in part with State funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the State of Maryland. However, project contents or opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.