Alton National Cemetery
Why it's listed
Alton National Cemetery occupies a half-acre rectangular lot on a steep, grassy hill within the Alton City Cemetery at 600 Pearl Street. It began in 1862 as a soldiers' lot where the Union Army buried men who died at the local post hospital or aboard steamboats on the Mississippi. The federal government maintained the lot for decades, received title in 1940 after the Alton Cemetery Association donated it, and designated it a national cemetery in 1948. Works Progress Administration funds paid for a two-story concrete rostrum and wrought-iron entrance gates, built in 1941. Burials include veterans of the Civil War, Mexican War, Spanish-American War, both World Wars, Korea and Vietnam, with about 200 Union soldiers among them. The grounds also hold a POW/MIA flagpole and a Gettysburg Address plaque installed in 2009. The cemetery filled in 1961 and is closed, with 531 interments recorded in 2010.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the cemetery is significant under Criterion A for its association with the development of the Civil War-era national cemeteries. It began as a soldiers' lot for Union dead, passed to the federal government in 1940, and was officially designated a national cemetery in 1948. It closed to new burials in 1961.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 11000245, listed May 5, 2011. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 600 Pearl St., Alton |
|---|---|
| County | Madison County |
| Listed | May 5, 2011 |
| Reference number | 11000245 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Period of significance | ca. 1862-1961 |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Military, Social History, Landscape Architecture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The cemetery reached capacity in 1961 and remains closed to new interments; it held 531 interments as of May 2010. |
| Acreage | 0.5 |
| Coordinates | 38.89003, -90.16393 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
Sites (archaeological sites, battlefields, landscapes) are often listed with a restricted address to protect them from looting or disturbance. Listing is honorary for private owners; federal undertakings on or near the site go through Section 106 review, and state laws may protect burials and artefacts regardless of listing.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 11000245.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4736901
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.