A policy was established that new cemeteries would only be created on land already owned by the federal government.

During the mid-1970s, when the National Cemetery System was looking to expand, it determined that the largest veteran population in the northeast was centered in the Boston area.

A search soon commenced to find a suitable site for a national cemetery, nearby.

A portion of this lease was terminated and the title for 749.29 acres (303.23 ha) was transferred to the VA’s National Cemetery System in 1976.

The site was officially named the Veterans Administration National Cemetery of Bourne, Mass., but over time the lengthy appellation changed in practice, if not in fact, to simply, "Massachusetts National Cemetery".