The other Alabama site is Fort Mitchell National Cemetery near Phenix City, 150 miles southeast.

The Veterans Administration was authorized to establish six new burial sites by the National Cemetery Act of 2003.

Areas not served by an existing National Cemetery and containing at least 170,000 veteran residents included Bakersfield, California; Birmingham, Alabama; Jacksonville, Florida; Sarasota County, Florida; southeastern Pennsylvania and Columbia- Greenville, South Carolina.

Initial construction began in November 2008 and created space for 1,000 casket burials and 1,000 in-ground cremations.

[4] The first phase of the cemetery includes an entrance, roadways within the section, permanent buildings for administration and maintenance, a public information center and two shelters for services during inclement weather.