Michigan Veterans' Facility
formerly known as the
Michigan Old Soldiers' Home
Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan
1886 Soldiers Home Album
Burial Information
Researching
 

From postcards "Made in the U.S.A." by
E.C. Kropp Co., Milwaukee, Wis.

Scanned and placed online
by Jennifer Godwin for the
Kent County Michigan GenWeb Project.

This photo of the Michigan Soldiers Home was taken in 1915.
Photo from a postcard sent by Helen Selee, scanned and put online by Evelyn Sawyer (2004)

Postcard of Michigan State Soldiers Home - Evelyn Sawyer

Main Drive  -  R.V. Gay Memorial Bldg.  -  Library
R.V. Gay Memorial Bldg.  -  J. Gordon Rankin Bldg.
 Hospital Bldg.  -  The Fountain  -  Winter Scene
 

Who can be buried in the Michigan Soldiers Home Cemetery?
 

Burials are restricted to veterans and their widows who were residents of the nursing home.  Veterans must have served at least 90 days and be honorably discharged and either entered the service from Michigan or be a resident of Michigan to be admitted to the nursing home.  If the widow was never a resident of the nursing home she can only be buried there if she is cremated and interred in her husband's grave.

 

Researching your ancestor
in the Michigan Old Soldiers' Home

If you believe that your ancestor may have stayed at the Old Soldiers Home, you can write for his records from the State Archives. Early records generally consist of a four-page application which might contain the name of next of kin, date of birth, regiment and/or pension number. The archives will not share most medical records, for privacy reasons. To request a search, send a letter to the archives including the name of your veteran, the war in which he served and any additional helpful information.

Address of the Home:

Grand Rapids Veterans Home
3000 Monroe Ave. NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49505
(616) 364-5389

  • The State Archives of Michigan has posted a history of the Soldiers' Home and Soldiers' Home Cemetery.
  • Michigan Veterans Homes by Bruce R. Baker, Fiscal Analyst May 1997 is a web page from the Michigan State Government which includes information about the homes' origins, histories, a map of the grounds of the Grand Rapids Home and much more.
  • If your veteran died in the 1880s, it is possible he is listed in the Deaths of Inmates of the Michigan Old Soldiers' Home from the 1891 Baxter history.
  • Michigan in the Civil War website has a list of Michigan Civil War Veterans who are buried at the Soldier's Home. 
  • All of the D.A.R. gravestone readings of the Soldiers' Home Cemetery from the 1930s have been transcribed by Karen Blumenshine.
  • Information on the Michigan Soldiers Home - https://www.michigan.gov/dmva
  • The LDS church has also microfilmed some of the burial records from the Soldiers' Home Cemetery. Visit Family Search and search in their catalog under Grand Rapids or Kent County, Michigan and then under Cemeteries. Then you can order the microfilm for viewing at your local family history center.