Dossier 1106Historic SiteMedium 62

Winterset Cemetery

Winterset, Iowa502 S 4th Street1 min readFile amended October 2, 2026Directions

Winterset Cemetery is a historic site in Winterset, Iowa, a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing. NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad. HauntHunt files it with dark history, Underground Railroad history and the Underground Railroad. The dossier holds 3 documented facts — the record is history-forward, no paranormal claims on file. The site is open to visitors.

Archive note: 4 conflicting records

Status

Operating

Access

Open to public

Designation

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing

Coordinates

41.344, -94.013 · Approximate (city centroid)

County

Madison

NPS public listing access field: Yes. This is a listing snapshot; current arrangements still require confirmation.

Signal: cold trace

Is Winterset Cemetery haunted?

No claims are filed here — the record keeps this place for its documented history, not for a haunting on file.

Dark History Historic Sites

The record — long form

Winterset Cemetery is the twenty — the 'UGRR operatives' that's the buried counted, the 'Charles Moore' that's the freedom seeker among them. The 'Big Crib' is the hid — the 'never gathered corn' that's the wagons packed, the 'Presiding Genius' that's the newspaper named. The '90 residents' is the county — the '1857-62' that's the active years, the 'most towns avoided' that's the rural's way.

The 'McGees' is the near — the 'took refuge' that's the Moore sheltered, the 'buried beside' that's the neighbors rest. The 'Rock City' is the first — the 'limestone ridge' that's the cemetery's origin, the '1850' that's the pioneer platted. Winterset is the mapped — the 'walking tour' that's the 20 graves marked, the 'sheriff misdirected' that's the Chase's detour.

The file keeps Winterset: the twenty buried, the corn-packed wagons, Moore's rest, and the walking tour.

Winterset Cemetery is the archive's Iowa file — where conductors and the conducted rest together.

Why this file matters

Winterset Cemetery is the archive's Iowa file — the seeker buried beside his shelterers.

A cemetery keeps its pairs — the file's suggestion being that Winterset's hold is the together: the 'Moore near McGees' that's the refuge continued, the 'corn wagons' that's the cargo disguised, and the 'sheriff's detour' that's the misdirection remembered.

Two accounts on file

Place Type

On file

HISTORIC_SITE

Also reported

CEMETERY

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Short Description

On file

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

Also reported

The cemetery—where the county’s abolitionists rest.

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Historic Designation

On file

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing

Also reported

NPS Network to Freedom

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Research Notes

On file

Government-registry discovery record, unique ID 43IA01, source row 672. Inclusion concerns slavery, freedom-seeking and resistance history; no haunting is inferred. City, coordinates and detailed history are not inferred from the name. The source Year Established field is not treated as year built/opened.

Also reported

UGRR enrichment wave 3; VERIFY task auto-queued.

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Documented history

NPS includes this site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. A documented site gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that record. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. The detail is preserved in 'Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01'. The entry's timeline holds it; the lore holds the rest.
Verified historyNational Park Service
Winterset Cemetery is documented on the National Park Service Network to Freedom for its role in the Underground Railroad. A documented site gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that record. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. Sources including 'NPS Network to Freedom listing' carry the record. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.
Verified historyNational Park Service
The cemetery is documented. A documented site gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that record. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. The detail is preserved in 'NPS Network to Freedom listing'. The entry's timeline holds it; the lore holds the rest. It remains the site's standing claim.
Verified historyNational Park Service