Monument site · VA-listed site
Union Confederate Monument Site
Kansas City, Missouri
Location
227 E 28th Terrace
Kansas City, MO 64108
Visiting
- Address
- 227 E 28th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64108
- Phone
- 913-727-1376
- Visiting hours
- Open daily from sunrise to sunset.
- Office hours
- Monday through Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Closed federal holidays except Memorial Day.
- Time zone
- Central Time
- Burial space
- Closed
- Accessibility
- Not yet verified
- Official page
- cem.va.gov
Flowers and grounds policy, from the VA
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. Fresh-cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. Cemetery visitors are free to use flower containers located in receptacles placed throughout the grounds. Flowers are picked up on the first and third Mondays of the month during the mowing season, April 1 through October 1.
Artificial flowers and potted plants will be permitted on graves during periods when their presence will not interfere with grounds maintenance. As a general rule, artificial flowers and potted plants will be allowed on graves for a period extending seven days before through seven days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.
Christmas wreaths, grave blankets and other seasonal adornments may be placed on graves from December 1 through January 20. They may not be secured to headstones or markers.
Permanent plantings, statues, flags, vigil lights, breakable objects, balloons, pin wheels, shepherd hooks and similar items are not permitted on the graves. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments that are considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery or considered hazardous to cemetery personnel. For example, items incorporating beads or wires may become entangled in mowers or other equipment and cause injury.
Permanent items removed from graves will be placed in an inconspicuous holding area for one month prior to disposal. Decorative items removed from graves remain the property of the donor but are under the custodianship of the cemetery. If not retrieved by donor, they are then governed by the rules for disposal of federal property.
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
At the entrance to the cemetery there is the Union Cemetery Historical Society. The cemetery is open 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The Union Cemetery Historical Society Office is open Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. and Friday, 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.; they are closed on holidays. Their telephone number is 816-472-4990.
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.
Union Cemetery Historical Society
227 E 28th Terrace
Kansas City, MO 64108-3277
816-472-4990
Website: www.uchskc.org
NOTE: Link will take you outside the VA website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked website.
This monument site is overseen by Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Please contact the national cemetery for more information.
Directions from Nearest Airport
From the Kansas City International Airport (MCI), Kansas City, MO you proceed from terminal area and enter the roundabout taking the exit toward the freeway U.S. I-29, merge onto U.S. I-29 South / U.S. -71 toward Kansas City, travel 10.7 miles and merge onto U.S. 169 South via Exit 2B, toward Kansas City Downtown, travel 5.6 miles and U.S. 169 becomes Broadway Road, travel approx. 0.7 miles and turn left onto West Truman Road, travel 0.2 miles, turn right onto Main Street, travel 1.4 miles and turn left onto Warwick Trafficway, proceed 0.1 miles then turn right onto East 28th Street Terrace, proceed 0.1 miles and you will be at the Union Cemetery, 227 East 28th Terrace, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, your travel time is 28 minutes and the distance is approximately 21.25 miles from the airport.
From Union Station in downtown Kansas City, Missouri you would start out in front of the train station on 30 West Pershing Road # 210, Kansas City, MO and go west on West Pershing Road for 0.1 miles then a sharp turn left to stay on West Pershing Road, travel for 0.1 miles then turn right onto Main Street / Carl J. DiCapo Drive, continue to follow for .6 miles then turn left onto Warwick Trafficway and proceed for 0.1 miles then turn right on East 28th Street Terrace, go for 0.1 miles and you end at the Union Cemetery 227 East Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64108. Your travel time is three minutes and the distance is approximately 1.0 miles.
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.
Established in 1857 between the towns of Westport and Kansas, Missouri, the 49-acre Union Cemetery was intended for both communities. Thus, the cemetery was not named after the Union Army, but for the union of the two communities. In 1889, the town of Kansas changed its name to Kansas City, and annexed Westport in 1897. Today, the cemetery is located within downtown Kansas City. Many notable local figures are interred in Union Cemetery, including George Caleb Bingham, a 19th-century painter, and Alexander Majors, who helped establish the Pony Express.
The 8' tall granite obelisk commemorates 15 Confederate prisoners of war who died in Kansas City. Originally buried in the city cemetery, their remains were subsequently interred in Union Cemetery, although the location of the individual graves are not known. Two bronze tablets fastened to the monument list the names of the prisoners, who were taken during the Battle of Westport, the turning point in the Missouri Campaign of Confederate Major General Sterling Price.
The lot is located in the northeast section of the cemetery and it is identified as stop #15 in the cemetery's walking tour.
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. Union Confederate Monument Site (official cemetery page). Retrieved November 11, 2026.
- Map position: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. VA National Cemetery Sites (dataset).