The federal government appropriated the site of the former West Virginia Industrial Home for Boys for the new cemetery, which was dedicated and opened in 1987.

A dedication ceremony took place on September 28, 1987 and the cemetery was opened for interments the next day, even though construction was incomplete.

[1] In 2010, the remains of World War II casualty Private First Class Lawrence Harris of Elkins, West Virginia were relocated to the National Cemetery after having been lost for 66 years.

The board was unaware that an Army group had removed the remains and had them buried unidentified at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.

After an ID bracelet was recovered from the site in 2003, investigations between 2006 and 2008 led to the graves being exhumed for DNA testing.