Military Monday : Albany Rural Cemetery, Soldier's Lot

Albany Rural Cemetery has a large lot in Section 75 on the North Ridge where 149 veterans of the Civil War are buried. The Soldier's Lot was created in 1862 for the burying Union soldiers from the Albany area. The Lot has 149 identical marble gravestones; one for each fallen soldier. Overlooking the marble gravestones is the large Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Monument. The monument contains the names of 648 Albany County residents who were “Killed in Action.” The bronze plates on the monument were cast from a melted down Civil War cannon. On the top of the monument stands a life size bronze statue of a Union Army soldier. After years of settling the individual gravestones became uneven and un-level. In 2013 and 2014 a project was undertaken and all of the individual gravestones were cleaned and re-leveled.

Soldier's Lot

Restored Soldier's gravestones

GAR Monument

Soldier's Lot Plaque