The Houston Veterans Administration Cemetery was dedicated Dec. 7, 1965. It was the only government cemetery constructed in the United States during the 1960s.

The present-day Houston National Cemetery was the largest of its kind at the time of construction. Designed entirely by VA staff, it was also the only new VA cemetery not located on the grounds of a VA hospital. Prior to Houston’s opening, the last VA cemetery established was at Eagle Point VA Medical Center, Ore., in 1952. The largest VA cemeteries at the time were in Los Angeles at 114.47 acres, and Leavenworth, Kan., at 113.15 acres. At 419.2 acres, the Houston facility was slightly smaller than the 450 acres or so of Arlington National Cemetery, to which it was compared.

Houston became a national cemetery in 1973 after the passage of the National Cemetery Act.

In 2017, the Houston National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historical Places.