North Alton Confederate cemetery
635 Rozier St, Alton, IL, 62002
GPS Coordinates:
38.917364, -90.195461
County: Madison
Record count: 1,354
Ownership: National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Directions: From downtown Alton, take State St. north to Rozier St. and turn left. The cemetery lies about 750 feet down Rozier St. on your left.
Background: North Alton Confederate Cemetery originated as the burial site for Confederate prisoners who died at the Alton prison during the Civil War. The prison, originally built in 1833 as Illinois State Prison and closed in 1860 due to poor conditions, was reopened by the federal government as a Confederate prison after the war began. Though designed for 800 inmates, it held nearly 1,900 by the war's end. Many prisoners died from disease, especially smallpox, and those who died of it were buried on Tow Head Island—though their graves were lost due to flooding. Others were buried at a site two miles north of Alton, which became the current cemetery. In 1909, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a 58-foot granite obelisk inscribed with the names of 1,354 Confederate soldiers.
Transcriptions
We have 1 transcription for this cemetery.
- Veterans Affairs Database, compiled by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (1,354 records)
