About
The Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission
The Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission is a non-profit, charitable organization with 501 (c) (3) status. It was incorporated in 1994. Below you will find our purpose and aims as written in our Articles of Incorporation. The Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission, Incorporated is a patriotic organization dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the Mound City National Cemetery with specific aims:
​
-
To encourage, in keeping with the policies of our Government, the establishment of a concrete plan to provide for the restoration and maintenance of existing structures located on the premises of the Mound City National Cemetery.
-
To help provide for the expansion of the lands for interment of future generations of veterans at the Mound City National Cemetery.
-
To help unify divergent groups in the overall preservation and expansion of the Mound City National Cemetery.
-
To cooperate with all duly recognized existing organizations in the preservation and expansion of Mound City National Cemetery.
-
To act as a liason between concerned citizens and the Government in accomplishing the purposes of this organization.
The Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission meets the first Monday of the month at the Rawlings Reservation located at 315 South Fourth Street, Mound City, Illinois starting at 6:00 pm. If the meeting falls on a holiday, the commission usually reschedules for the next first Monday of the following month. Visitors are welcome.
history
Located on the National Register of Historic Places, the Mound City National Cemetery is a burial place for Union and Confederate soldiers and soldiers from nearly every war. The walkway through the grounds is lined with markers inscribed with verses from the famous poem “Bivouac of the Dead.”
The army negotiated the purchase of the 10-acre site for $750.00. The Authority to Establish National Cemeteries was granted through a Congressional Act authorizing President Lincoln to purchase cemetery grounds for those ” who shall die in the service of the country.” Today Mound City honors the sacrifice of 9,000 veterans. Every American episode of war and peace since the Mexican-American War (1846-1847) is represented among those at rest here.
The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. A beautiful monument donated by the State of Illinois and erected in 1874 towers majestically from the center of the grounds. The National Cemetery Administration occupies the Caretaker's Lodge, using it as an office for its onsite representative.
