The Jefferson City National Cemetery is essentially full.
That leaves questions for people hoping to honor veterans who have died.
The cemetery, a hillside consisting of about 2 acres at 1024 E. McCarty St., is maintained in pristine condition, according to Dan Phillips, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Jefferson Barracks operates the cemetery in Jefferson City.
A small plot of land, Jefferson City's national cemetery has 1,792 headstones, Phillips said. However, that number doesn't tell how many people are buried in the cemetery because multiple family members can be interred at some sites, he said.
A handful of grave sites in the cemetery - fewer than 10 - haven't been used yet, possibly because families pre-bought them, he added.
Volunteers place wreaths on all the headstones each December, an honor organized by Lorraine Adkins, who died last year. Her husband, Pete Adkins, said he and others recently met at an American Legion hall and began discussing how to find room for future veterans in the cemetery or for a second national cemetery in the city.
One person thought they might need up to 100 acres for a proper expansion of the facility.
"I think we could get by with 70 or 80 acres," Adkins said.
No matter how it happens, expansion has to go through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Phillips said discussions about acquiring more property for the cemetery are in the "very, very infantile stages."
A challenge facing the potential expansion is how densely homes are built around the current cemetery.
"Obviously, we can't expand at the cemetery," Phillips said. "I don't see donations of surrounding land as a practical approach at this time. The most practical approach would be the (Veterans Administration) or some other organization to donate land in the Jefferson City region."
The local facility wasn't always a national cemetery. Although Abraham Lincoln began creating national cemeteries about the same time the cemetery was formed in Jefferson City, which was in 1861 for burial of Civil War soldiers, it didn't become a national cemetery until 1867, when it had about 350 interments. The Department of the Army operated it until 1973 when the National Cemetery Act transferred ownership to the Veterans Administration, Phillips said.
Jefferson City ran out of space for first interment grave sites - sites in which multiple family members may be interred - in 1969. The first interment at such sites may be either a veteran or a veteran's immediate family member. Sites for cremated remains depleted in 1996.
That leaves few options.
A goal of the National Cemetery Administration is to provide eligible veterans reasonable access to Department of Veterans Affairs sites. The administration considers 75 miles reasonable.
The next closest interment option available to Jefferson City-area veterans is in the Ft. Leonard Wood Veterans Cemetery, a state cemetery. It and all Missouri state cemeteries meet the same standards as national cemeteries. For qualified veterans, plots, headstones and perpetual care of graves are free, as is a funeral with full military honors.
Daniel Bell, public information officer with the Missouri Veterans Commission, said the state has to follow the same regulations set for national cemeteries.
"There is no difference," Bell said. "There is no charge for any service provided by the cemetery. Probably the most deciding factor (between national and state cemeteries) is what is most convenient."
Cemetery operators recommend preregistering whenever possible.
"(When someone dies) is a stressful time. And having to try to find the veteran's discharge papers and marriage certificate adds to the stress," Bell said. "You can have that peace of mind that arrangements are taken care of."
In addition to Ft. Leonard Wood, there are state veterans cemeteries in Higginsville, Springfield, Bloomfield and Jacksonville.
A planned expansion of Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery toward the south and east will allow more burials in that facility for a few more years, Phillips said. It should provide space for burials until about 2021.