Fort Lyon National Cemetery

Fort Lyon National Cemetery
Fort Lyon National Cemetery
	The cemetery in 2013.
Details
Established	1887
Location	Bent County, Colorado
Country	United States
Coordinates	38°05′05″N 103°07′46″W / 38.08472°N 103.12944°W
Type	United States National Cemetery
Owned by	U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Size	52 acres (21 ha)
No. of graves	>2,750
Website	Official
Find a Grave	Fort Lyon National Cemetery

Fort Lyon National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located near the city of Las Animas in Bent County, Colorado. It encompasses 51.9 acres (21.0 hectares) and as of 2014 had 2,556 interments. It is administered by the Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver County, Colorado.

History

Named for the first Union General to die in the Civil War, Nathaniel Lyon, the cemetery was established as part of Fort Lyon the first time in 1887. The fort was abandoned in 1897 and the remains buried in the cemetery were transferred to Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Nebraska. In 1906 the fort buildings were converted into a sanitarium to treat soldiers and prisoners of war with tuberculosis, and burials began in 1907. The cemetery was transferred to the National Cemetery system in 1973 to be managed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.