National Cemetery Administration

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
(If office is closed during these hours, contact the City Clerk’s office at 810-984-9725 Ext. 0 for assistance.)

Closed federal holidays.

Visitation Hours: Open daily from sunrise to sunset.

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.

» Eligibility for Burial in a VA National 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 Great Lakes 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.

An American flag and fresh cut flowers (in non-glass containers) may be placed at the head of a grave for not more than 10 days immediately prior to or after Memorial Day or Veteran's Day each year. 

Winter decorations are allowed from November 15 through March 31 and will be removed and disposed of without notice beginning April 1 of each year.

Lakeside Cemetery was established in 1877 when the city of Port Huron, Michigan, purchased 148 acres from local resident John Hoffman. At one point the cemetery comprised 176 acres, but over time it was reduced to the current size of 96.5 acres.

The Lakeside Cemetery Soldiers' Lot encompasses lots 144 - 159. The 0.174-acre parcel was donated to the United States in 1881, when 135 remains from Old Fort Gratiot were re-interred at the cemetery. There were two installations known as Fort Gratiot; the first dated from 1814-1821, the second from 1828-1879. Both were located on the same site, on the west bank of the St. Clair River, approximately two miles south of Lakeside Cemetery. Of the 135 interments in the soldiers' lot, only 35 are known.

Monuments and Memorials
On July 7, 1884, the federal government dedicated a monument at the Lakeside Cemetery Soldiers' Lot to honor the unknown soldiers from Fort Gratiot who fell victims to the cholera epidemic, July 4, to 18, 1832. Built by Philo Truesdell of the Port Huron Marble and Granite Works, the shaft is constructed of Concord granite. A marble statue of a Union soldier attired in "those articles used in the [Civil] war" stands on top of the column. The monument is 24 feet in height, and cost $1,500 to complete.