National Cemetery Administration
Mound City Cemetery Soldiers' Lot
Visitation Hours: Open daily from sunrise to sunset.
Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Closed federal holidays except Memorial Day.
This soldiers' lot is closed to interments.
Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
A Veteran's spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.
Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, or were eligible for retired pay, may also be eligible for burial.
From Kansas City take Interstate 29 South for 9.5 miles to Interstate 635 South. Travel Interstate 635 South 12.2 miles. Bear right onto Interstate 35 South. Travel Interstate 35 South 4.7 miles and bear right onto US 69 South. Travel US 69 South for 60 miles. Take Highway 52 West. Travel on Highway 52 West for approximately five miles to Mound City. Turn right on to North Fifth Street, which ends at the cemetery.
Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule.
The private and community cemeteries that contain NCA soldiers' and government lots, and Confederate cemeteries, do not always have staffed offices on site. When administrative information for the larger cemetery is available, it is provided below.
This soldiers' lot is overseen by the Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Please contact the national cemetery for more information.
For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.
Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.
Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave.
We welcome and encourage fresh-cut flowers throughout the year and provide flower containers for gravesite display. Cemetery visitors may use receptacles placed throughout the grounds. Flowers are picked up on the 1st and 3rd Mondays from April 1 to October 1 and one week after Easter, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day. Spent or damaged flowers will be removed. They may also be removed for routine mowing or other maintenance.
Artificial flowers are only permitted from October 1 to April 1 due to the mowing season. All artificial flowers must be placed in plastic vases that are located in receptacles throughout the cemetery. Please do not place artificial flower stems directly into the ground.
On Easter, Memorial Day and Veterans Day, fresh cut and artificial flowers may be placed on gravesites seven days before through seven days after the holiday. During the holiday season, from December 1st through January 20th, wreaths, gravesite blankets, and other seasonal decorations may be placed on gravesites.
To maintain the dignity of the cemetery, commemorative items, balloons, pinwheels, glass items, votive lights, stuffed animals, statues, shepherd's hooks and permanent plantings, among other items, are not allowed.
No floral item or decoration may be attached to a headstone or marker in a national cemetery. Animals may eat fresh flowers and arrangements.
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
The Mound City Soldiers' Lot is located in Lots 262 and 263 of Woodland Cemetery at Mound City, KS, which set aside the area for the burial of soldiers. The first interments consisted of 30 Union soldiers killed in the Battles of Mine Creek and Marais des Cygnes in 1864. The deed for the soldiers' lot, measuring 48 by 158 feet, was not officially transferred until 1874. In 1888, the remains of other Union and unknown soldiers buried elsewhere in Linn County were re-interred into the soldiers' lot. In 1940, laborers of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a depression-era work relief program, erected an enclosing stone wall and post-and-chain fence around the perimeter of the soldiers' lot.
Monuments and Memorials
In 1889, the United States erected the Union Soldiers monument to honor the 80 Civil War soldiers laid to rest at Mound City Soldiers' Lot. The granite monument, which cost approximately $2,500, depicts a Civil War infantryman holding his musket, looking to the east.
An artillery monument was placed in the soldiers' lot circa 1880.
The Linn County Historical Society erected a wooden memorial at the entrance of the soldiers' lot at some point during the 20th century. This memorial, which signified the soldiers' lot within the larger cemetery, was replaced with a limestone version in 2001.
Under Development.
More than half of VA's national cemeteries originated with the Civil War and many are closed to some burials. Other sites were established to serve World War veterans and they continue to expand. Historic themes related with NCA's cemeteries and soldiers' lots vary, but visitors should understand "Why is it here?" NCA began by installing interpretive signs, or waysides, at more than 100 properties to observe the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011–2015). Please follow the links below to see the interpretive signs for Mound City National Cemetery.
Visit the Veterans Legacy Program and NCA History Program for additional information. Thank you for your interest.
