VA national cemetery
Alton National Cemetery
Alton, Illinois
Location
600 Pearl Street
Alton, IL 62002
Visiting
- Address
- 600 Pearl Street, Alton, IL 62002
- Phone
- 314-845-8320
- Visiting hours
- Open daily from dawn to dusk.
- Office hours
- This cemetery is under the supervision of the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery .
- Time zone
- Central Time
- Burial space
- Closed
- Accessibility
- Not yet verified
- Official page
- cem.va.gov
Flowers and grounds policy, from the VA
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 1 through January 20.
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
Weapons Policy
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.
General information, from the VA
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery supervises this cemetery.
Directions from Nearest Airport
From St. Louis Airport, E. Alton, IL, take State Highway 111 (in front of airport) Alton to Broadway Street. Turn right on Broadway Street to Pearl Street. Turn right on Pearl Street and proceed three blocks to the cemetery.
Pay your respects
Visitors to veterans’ graves sometimes leave a coin on the headstone to show that someone came. You can leave a symbolic coin here. No money is involved, and nothing about you is published. About the custom, and what each coin is said to mean.
History
Reproduced from the VA National Cemetery Administration’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026. This is the VA’s text, unedited; it is not independent research by this site.
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.
Notable burials and memorials
Reproduced from the VA’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026, including Medal of Honor recipients where the VA lists them. Links lead to the VA’s own records. To correct an entry, contact the VA; to tell us our copy is out of date, report it.
Nearby veterans cemeteries
Sources
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Find a Cemetery: all national cemeteries, and each cemetery’s own page. U.S. government work (public domain). Retrieved November 11, 2026. Used for: name, address, phone and burial-space status, hours, policies, history and notable burials.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Alton National Cemetery (official cemetery page). Retrieved November 11, 2026.
- Map position: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. VA National Cemetery Sites (dataset).