First Settlers
N 43° 18.924 W 093° 47.614
15T E 435649 N 4796146
This is a pioneer cemetery containing the final resting places of some of Winnebago County, Iowa's, earliest settlers.
Waymark Code: WM144W
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 01/08/2007
Views: 71
This cemetery was established in 1873, shortly after settlers began arriving in Winnebago County, Iowa. This part of Iowa was settled by mostly Norwegian and German immigrants who lived on the prairie and made their living by farming the land. The names contained on the gravestones reflect this heritage, with some of the stones being completely written in Norwegian.
For many years after the last burial, the cemetery continued to be owned by the Township Trustees, with a local boy scout troop conducting the annual mowing. But, one year, the scout troop didn't mow it. And a wonderful array of prairie grasses and wildflowers resprouted, after years of being suppressed!
The Winnebago County Conservation Board noticed this and asked the Trustees if the Board could take over the cemetery's management. The Trustees agreed and the Board began managing the cemetery to restore it to its original, prairie appearance. Today, although it's only 2 acres, and only a handful of its original gravestones still exist, the cemetery provides visitors with a small glimpse of what life (and death) on the prairie must have been like.
Earliest Burial: 01/02/1873
Latest Burial: 12/31/1900
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Visit Instructions:
Take a photo of at least one grave marker and including a qualitative and quantitative description