Roundabout cemetery in West Des Moines to become another regular roadside burial ground

The Des Moines Register

The small group of 19th-century graves that created a roundabout in the middle of a road in West Des Moines will soon become a roadside location thanks to expanding development.

Huston Cemetery is located in the middle of the intersection at 88th Street and Mills Civic Parkway, but will occupy a space southwest of the intersection once the road is widened and moved to accommodate traffic growth that has developed over the past few years.

When the cemetery was damaged by a car in 2017, Sally Ortgies, director of the city's parks and recreation department, told the Register that future plans called for relocating and widening Mills Civic Parkway.

That particular section of Mills Civic Parkway is to be moved several hundred feet north of the cemetery and widened to three lanes while 88th street will be widened on either side of the intersection.

From 2013: Members of the Huston's Plot chapter of The Questers care for the tiny Huston Cemetery, located in the middle of Mills Civic Parkway in Dallas County. Flo Dietz, shown here, and other members have placed wreaths and decorated the cemetery for various holidays.

According to West Des Moines officials, the $7.2 million project will be completed by November.

Huston Cemetery is named for James B. Huston, the patriarch of one of the first families to settle in Dallas County. He was the first Dallas County attorney.

The Huston family home, which still stands nearby, was a stagecoach station, tavern, post office and a stop on the Underground Railroad. According to an article on the city's website, the first two people buried there were former slave girls with the last name Harper who "died on their way to freedom."

There are 19 headstones, including the graves of several Huston family members. James B. Huston, who died in 1889, is believed to be the last person buried there. His wife, Nancy Hill Huston, and six of their children are also buried there.

Once located in rural Dallas County, the cemetery is now just one mile west of Jordan Creek Town Center, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Athena USA.

Aaron Calvin covers trending news for the Register. Reach him at acalvin@registermedia.com or 515-556-9097.

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