[1] Florida National Cemetery is located in the Withlacoochee State Forest, approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of Tampa.

The United States Forest Service managed the property until a lease-purchase agreement transferred it to the Florida Board of Forestry in 1958.

A robust citrus-growing industry developed in the eastern part of the area and became a focus of intense economic expansion soon after the war.

Two major locations for the cemetery were studied: property near the Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Withlacoochee State Forest.

The cemetery contains a Memorial Pathway that in 2003 featured 47 plaques, statues, monuments, etc., honoring America's soldiers from 20th-century conflicts.