Upcoming Veterans Memorial Service Highlights Rich History of the Fort Stanton Cemetery
Drive by on State Road 220 northeast of the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport, and you’ll come upon the historic Fort Stanton Cemetery, site of the upcoming May 28th Veterans’ Memorial Service. Today, looking down on the quiet face of the Fort Stanton Historical Site, it is important to note that the state and nation also used the frontier site to remember and honor veterans. Let’s take a brief look back at the rich history of the Fort Stanton cemetery.
On April 1, 1899 President McKinley issued an Executive Order, setting Fort Stanton aside for use by the U.S. Marine Hospital Service, as a tuberculosis sanatorium. John Dower who died on December 16, 1899 was the first tuberculosis victim to be buried in the Marine Hospital Service cemetery at Fort Stanton. In 1902, the Hospital Service was renamed as the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. Later, in 1912, the name was changed again to the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital [USPHS].
During the time that the Public Health Service Hospital operated the Fort Stanton cemetery, there were at least twenty one  burials of U.S. military personnel, as evidenced by the presence of government-furnished military headstones. The earliest was William Jeffries, USMC Private, who died on August 15, 1918. The last, Carl Hardesty, USN, died on June 22, 1951. During the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital cemetery operation period, there were 1,554 burials.
On June 30 1953, the property was transferred from the USPHS to the State of New Mexico. The New Mexico Department of Public Welfare was given charge of the hospital along with 1320 acres of land on the Fort Stanton Reservation. Later, in 1966, the Hospital was turned over to the State Special Hospital Board for use as an adult mental health facility, and was used as such until 1994. Since then, the Fort Hospital has also been used by the New Mexico Department of Corrections as a women’s correctional facility and as a men’s correctional substance abuse facility, the latter under private contract with the Department of Corrections.
In 2007, parts of Fort Stanton including the cemetery became a State Monument [later renamed a State Historic Site], and control changed to the Department of Cultural Affairs. Each New Mexico state government department using Fort Stanton including Cultural Affairs has also administered and maintained the cemetery. Between 1953 and 1994, there were sixty nine  burials, of which twenty one  were veterans. The cemetery is now administered by the NM Department of Veteran’s Services.
Since 1994, the cemetery has also been open for burial of veterans and their dependents, following national cemetery eligibility requirements. Two exceptions have been granted, one by the Department of Hospitals for an employee and one by the Veterans’ Service Commission. Since 1994, there have been 158 burials of veterans and their dependents.
The original Fort Stanton Post Cemetery is located northwest of the current historic cemetery. When the Fort was deactivated in 1896, the remains of fifty eight  service members and their dependents were disinterred and moved to the Fort Marcy Cemetery in Santa Fe, now the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Portions of Fort Stanton were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The Fort Stanton Historic District boundary was enlarged in 2000 to include the Cemetery.
In continuous operation from 1899 to the present by the national or state government, the Cemetery has been in operation for burial of State clients, staff and their dependents, military veterans and their dependents. By the end of 2015, there have been a total of 1783 burials at the historic Fort Stanton cemetery.
The regional Veterans Memorial Service Team has scheduled the 27th annual Veteran’s Memorial Service for 11 a.m. May 28, 2016 at Fort Stanton Veteran's Cemetery, State Highway 220, Lincoln County, New Mexico.
A cordial invitation is extended to all residents from southern New Mexico and west Texas to attend this years’ service in order to pay tribute to both military and merchant marine veterans who have served our nation.
For additional information, contact Larry Holt, Volunteer Coordinator at 575.354.3421.