WINTERSET CEMETERY

A photo of the Rock City Cemetery, circa early 1900s

(Photo courtesy of Gary Allen, Winterset, Iowa)

Recent Photos of the Winterset Cemetery

(Click on photo to enlarge)

No information on the beginnings of the Winterset Cemetery has been found. It was put in use at about the time the townsite was established. For a number of years, it was known as the "Rock City Cemetery". This name is believed to have originated with Col. Henry Cummings, editor of the Winterset Madisonian, who, in the early 1870s, was promoting the Madison County quarries for stone to build the Iowa State Capitol building whose construction started in 1871. There were several articles (editorials) in the Madisonian exhorting the virtues of Madison county stone and proclaiming Winterset as the "Rock City" of Iowa.

The current day Winterset Cemetery, located at the south end of 4th Street, has been expanded several times since inception. There are over 9000 marked graves and perhaps well over 1000 unmarked graves.

Source: Compiled by IAGenWeb County Coordinator Kent Transier through research of early Winterset Madisonians.

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