Arlington Memorial Amphitheater

Description

Memorial Amphitheater is an outdoor amphitheater, exhibit hall, and nonsectarian chapel located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Designed in 1913 as a replacement for the older, wooden amphitheater near Arlington House, ground was broken for its construction in March 1915 and it was dedicated in May 1920. In the center of its eastern steps is the Tomb of the Unknowns, dedicated in 1921. It has served as the site for numerous Veterans Day and Memorial Day services, as well as for memorial services and funerals for many individuals.Building the amphitheaterGenesis of the amphitheaterArlington National Cemetery was established in 1863. Due to the growing importance of the cemetery as well as the much larger crowds attending Memorial Day observances, Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs (who was Quartermaster General of the United States Army) decided a formal meeting space at the cemetery was needed. A grove of close-growing trees just southwest of Arlington House Grove was cut down and a wooden amphitheater (today known as the Tanner Amphitheater) constructed in 1874.