Workers are toiling under the hot summer sun to restore the nation’s second-oldest military cemetery in Kansas.

The work at the Baxter Springs National Cemetery No. 2 Soldier’s Lot will include resetting and aligning all 217 headstones, which weigh about 100 pounds each.

After the Civil War, the federal government designated the soldiers’ lot on ground donated by the city. It is under the jurisdiction of National Cemetery No. 1 in Fort Scott.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration contracts with groups to ensure that gravestones are properly set and aligned at national cemeteries. Gateway Outdoor Solutions in St. Louis is leading the effort.

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Associated Press information from: The Joplin Globe