Woodland Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Des Moines, was established in 1848, and the place you have reached predates the city's role as state capital. This municipal cemetery, run by the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department, now covers 69 acres at the corner of 20th Street and Woodland Ave and is the resting place for over 80,000 graves. Imagine five local farmers in 1848 donating 5.5 acres to begin what was then called Fort Des Moines Cemetery.
The first burial here was in 1850, of Thomas Casady, the infant son of Iowa state senator Phineas M. Casady. The city assumed ownership in 1857, and in 1864 purchased another 36.5 acres; over time those parcels grew into the 69 acres you see today. Look, too, for the City Receiving Vault built in the 1880s — once used to shelter bodies when winter made digging impossible.
Around you are distinct subsections: St. Ambrose Cemetery, relocated here in 1866; the Emmanuel Jewish Cemetery, founded in 1871; and an Independent Order of Odd Fellows section. Notice the City Receiving Vault from the 1880s, and the distinct sections nearby—St. Ambrose, Emmanuel Jewish, and the Odd Fellows plot.