Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it was the only national cemetery in the state of Washington[1] until 2020, when the Vancouver Barracks National Cemetery was established.

[2] Tahoma National Cemetery was established by the Department of Veteran Affairs on November 11, 1993, purchasing 160 acres (65 ha) from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources for $1.6 million.

[3] Congress approved $10.6 million in funding to build the cemetery in 1994 and design work began the following year.

[5][6] Until Tahoma was completed, Washington was one of eleven states without a national cemetery; the closest had been the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon, where some Washingtonians were buried.

[7] A second Washington national cemetery was proposed in 2006 for the Spokane area.