The cemetery's street address is in Calverton but the property is in the adjacent hamlet of Wading River.

On December 7, 1977, a 902 acres (365 ha) tract of land was transferred from the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Calverton to the Veterans Administration for use as a national cemetery.

For that reason, they designed and built a feature called a committal “wheel” of shelters that permits multiple burial services to be held simultaneously.

After the funeral service, the caskets are moved into the hub of the wheel and then transported to their respective gravesites.

In 1983, the walls of the committal shelters were reconstructed to serve as columbaria for the inurnment of cremated remains.