The Michigan Veterans’ Facility (formerly the Michigan Soldiers’ Home) was authorized by Act 152 of the Public Acts of 1885, which provided for the establishment of a home for disabled Michigan veterans. This act resulted from the efforts of Civil War veterans who were members of the Grand Army of the Republic. The buildings served Civil War veterans until 1938, when the last resident veteran of that conflict died.
In April 1886 the board of managers of the Michigan Veterans’ Facility set aside five acres for a cemetery. The Grand Rapids posts of the Grand Army of the Republic dedicated the cemetery on Memorial Day, May 31, 1886. The original cemetery was designed in the form of a Maltese cross with 262 grave sites in each of its four sections. In 1894 a granite statue of a Civil War soldier was placed in the center of the cross. By the time of its centennial in 1986, the cemetery had recorded over 4,000 burials of veterans and their dependents.
Only residents of the Veteran’s Home can be buried at the cemetery. It is one of five VA cemeteries in Michigan.
Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta (Battle Creek)
Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly
Lakeside Cemetery Soldiers’ Lot in Port Huron
Fort Mackinac Post Cemetery on Mackinac Island
Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.