National Cemetery Administration

Visitation Hours: Open daily from dawn to dusk.

Office Hours: Cemetery is maintained by Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

This cemetery is closed to new interments. The only interments that are being accepted are subsequent interments for Veterans or eligible family members in an existing gravesite. Periodically however, burial space may become available due to a canceled reservation or when a disinterment has been completed. When either of these two scenarios occurs the cemetery will assign such gravesites or columbarium niches to other eligible Veterans or family members at the time of the request. Since there is no way to know in advance when a gravesite may become available, please contact the cemetery at the time of need to inquire whether space is available.

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.

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery maintains this cemetery. Please contact Jefferson Barracks at the telephone number listed above.

For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.

Fresh cut flowers may be placed at gravesites at any time.

Artificial floral arrangements may be placed on gravesites starting the second Saturday in October through the second Sunday in April.

Fresh or artificial floral arrangements should be no taller than 24".

Floral arrangements should not completely cover the headstone or marker and should not encroach upon adjacent gravesites.

Floral items will be removed from gravesites when they become faded or unsightly.

Christmas wreaths (18" or smaller) and grave floral blankets (not to exceed 2' x 3') may be placed on gravesites beginning December 1st. These items will be removed by January 20th.

Easter, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day decorations and artificial floral arrangements may be placed the Thursday prior to the holiday and must be removed by the Sunday following the holiday.

Please do not secure floral items or other types of decorations to headstones or markers.

Permanent flower containers are not authorized.

The national cemetery will honor all Veteran gravesites prior to Memorial Day with a small U.S. flag. These flags will be removed immediately after Memorial Day.

We suggest that items placed at a gravesite be marked with the section and site number of your loved one. This is so they can be identified by the person who placed them, as well as for assisting employees in returning them to the correct gravesite if items are moved during inclement weather.

The following items are prohibited for placement at a gravesite, columbarium, or memorial wall and are subject to removal by cemetery staff:

• Alcoholic products
• Balloons, pinwheels, wind chimes, lights, candles, statues, stuffed animals, or other similar items
• Decorative and breakable glass or plastic items
• Non-government supplied floral containers (pots, planters, vases, etc.)
• Any objects that could become projectiles when caught in grounds maintenance equipment (such as rocks, coins, or other small durable objects)
• Offensive items or those deemed inconsistent with the cemetery setting
• Permanent in-ground plantings
• Weapons of any kind, explosives, or ammunition
• Any object attached to headstones, markers, or niche covers

Alton National Cemetery was originally a soldiers lot in the Alton City Cemetery, in Madison County, IL. Despite the existence of the lot as early as 1870, the government did not own the half-acre tract until July 1, 1940, when the Alton Cemetery Association donated the land. An estimated 163 Union soldiers and 12 unknowns were initially buried here, according to an inspection report of 1870. The men died at the Alton hospital and onboard steamboats passing up the Mississippi River.

The government paid the cemetery administrators $30 a year to care for the plot. After the war, there were plans to move the 163 Alton soldiers to Springfield National Cemetery, but the community protested and exerted sufficient influence to prevent the removal.

In 1938, the Alton Cemetery Association made an initial offer to donate land for a national cemetery with a proviso that the government build a rostrum or permanent speaker's stand for use on Memorial Day. Once the offer was accepted, Works Progress Administration laborers constructed a permanent rostrum. Between 1941 and 1942, the remains of 49 Union soldiers were removed from a nearby, but separate, section of Alton City Cemetery, and were reinterred on the federal land.

The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 2011.