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NR Nomination

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:2763 Riley Rd historic name:Eagle Point National Cemetery
Eagle Point, Jackson County current/other names:Camp White VA Domiciliary; White City National Cemetery
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:36S 1W 2
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:district height (stories):0.0 total elig resources:18 total inelig resources:1
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1952 second date:1973 date indiv listed:09/13/2016
primary orig use: Cemetery orig use comments:
second orig use:
primary style: Not Applicable prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Shingle siding comments:
secondary siding: Concrete: Other/Undefined
plan type: architect:
builder:
comments/notes:
DOE in 1984 for those areas developed prior to and including 1983. The cemetery opened in 1952 as an adjunct to the Veterans Administration Domiciliary (VA) at White City about four miles away; see http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/eaglepoint.asp Draft nomination on file dated 6-26-2012. Initial review letter sent 12-30-2015. DJP
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Not associated with any surveys or groupings.
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 09/13/2016
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 03/25/2010
Gen file date: 08/14/2012
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
Initially established in 1952 as a cemetery for the Veterans Administration Domiciliary at White City, Oregon, Eagle Point National Cemetery is located one mile east of Eagle Point and 14 miles northeast of Medford, in Jackson County, Oregon. Eagle Point National Cemetery is situated along Riley Road. The parcel is rectangular in shape and contains 43.4 acres. Riley Road runs diagonally through the cemetery boundaries; the developed cemetery grounds (24.5 acres) are northeast of the thoroughfare. Located at the southern end of the Rogue River Valley, the cemetery provides scenic views of the city of Eagle Point and the surrounding valley. The cemetery borders a residential neighborhood and golf course on the southwest and relatively open agricultural land on the north, east and south. A domed municipal water storage tank sits on an approximately 300’ x 300’ square tract southwest of Riley Road and just north of Gate 2 into the cemetery at its southeast end. (See Figure No. 2) The reservoir was part of the water system for Camp White, a World War II training facility, and located on property owned by the VA Domiciliary in White City. The announcement of the site selected for the domiciliary cemetery referenced the reservoir, and the reservoir remained federal property until 1990 when the City of Eagle Point acquired it. The city then rehabilitated the 1940s-era reservoir to meet contemporary seismic and snow-load safety requirements and to bring it into service as municipal water supply. The reservoir is 208’ in diameter and the aluminum paneled dome peaks at 44’. The aluminum dome was installed ca. 2010 and replaced a low, wood roof. There are over 600 aluminum panels in the roofing. With weathering, the metallic glow of the “Eagle Dome” will fade. Nonetheless, the 4 million gallon reservoir stands out in the agricultural landscape that surrounds the cemetery. (See Figure No. 6) The first burial at Eagle Point National Cemetery occurred in March 1952; by the time of the cemetery dedication on Memorial Day, there were six interments. As of February 2016, Eagle Point National Cemetery contains 19,893 interments. The total comprises 9,500 full-casket burials, 9,203 in-ground cremains, and 1,190 columbarium inurnments. Of the just over 43 acres held by Eagle Point National Cemetery, 18.9 acres remain undeveloped. The unimproved portion is located southwest of Riley Road. With existing facilities, the cemetery can accommodate casket and cremain interments until 2030. Phased development plans to expand into the cemetery’s land across Riley Road will allow for burials through 2077.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Eagle Point National Cemetery was established in 1952 as a veterans’ cemetery for the Camp White Domiciliary near Medford, Oregon. Originally created to serve the burial needs of veterans domiciled in Camp White, the 7.5 developed acres of the cemetery remained relatively unchanged until the late 1980s. In 1973, the cemetery entered the national cemetery system following the consolidation of veterans’ cemeteries under the authority of the Veterans Administration (VA). After becoming a national cemetery, the property underwent gradual improvements to accommodate the increasing veteran population following World War II and to provide new burial space for the national cemetery system. As a result, Eagle Point National Cemetery reflects the evolution of VA’s cemetery program from one of caring for veterans through domiciliary programs to overseeing the national cemetery system. Eagle Point National Cemetery also serves as a memorial to the sacrifices of the U.S. military, and is an extension of the burial and memorial mission established during the Civil War with the earliest national cemeteries. For these reasons, Criteria Consideration D is satisfied. The National Park Service, as manager of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), stated that all National Cemeteries were to be considered eligible for the NRHP “as a result of their Congressional designation as nationally significant places of burial and commemoration.” In addition, cemeteries would primarily be eligible under Criterion A for their association with the military history of the United States and the history of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). Therefore, Eagle Point National Cemetery is eligible for inclusion as a historic district in the NRHP under Criterion A. Criteria Considerations D (a cemetery) and G (less than 50 years old or attaining significance within the past 50 years) also apply. Monuments and Memorials A carillon was donated by the American Veterans as part of their international living-memorial program, which began shortly after World War II. A memorial dedicated to All Unknown Veterans was erected at the cemetery in 1980 by the Disabled American Veterans organization. A memorial dedicated to all 1st Marine Divisions of all Wars was donated by the 1st Marine Division Association. Others One notable burial at Eagle Point National Cemetery is Lieutenant George R. Tweed, U.S. Navy. Tweed was the sole survivor of a group captured by the Japanese after their occupation of Guam during World War II. Tweed hid on the island for more than two and one-half years evading capture and supplying valuable information to Allied forces. His ordeal inspired the book, Robinson Crusoe, USN and the movie No Man is An Island.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:Historic American Landscapes Survey #OR-1
Bibliography:
Camp White Station Hospital Survey Project Narrative, May 2007. http://www.southernoregon.va.gov/docs/campwhitesurvey.pdf Committee on Veterans Affairs, Medical Care of Veterans. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. History and Development of the National Cemetery Administration. http://www.cem.va.gov/pdf/history.pdf Eagle Point National Cemetery, Historical Files, Eagle Point, Oregon. Eagle Point National Cemetery Vertical File, National Cemetery Administration, Washington, D.C. Kramer, George. Camp White: City in the Agate Desert. Camp White, Oregon: Camp White 50th Anniversary Committee, 1992. Medford Mail Tribune, various issues as cited. Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C. Folder A1-25, Box 10, Department of Memorial Affairs, National Cemetery Historical File.