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Cemetery
After the active Historic Poor Farm's active period but before renewed investment by the County in the late 2010s, land at the farm was rented out to farmers to be row cropped. It was a farmer that discovered human remains as he was bulldozing in the area to create a pond in the 1960s. The pond project was then halted.
Some thirty years before, the cemetery had fallen out of use and its exact location was unknown. It was only through oral history and eventually, the examination of aerial photography and ground-penetrating radar by Dr. Glenn Storey, that the specific bounds of the cemetery were determined.
The number of individuals interred onsite also proved to be a difficult-to-answer question. The few remaining records on burials at the farm yielded misleading results, stating that only 13 individuals were interred there. Upon further investigation by the Office of the State Archaeologist using ground-penetrating radar (LiDAR) technology and soil probing, shallow trenching, researchers found that over 200 plots may exist in the cemetery.
All along, a sole wooden cross has marked the westernmost part of the cemetery. It was erected by Mary Jean Donovan, the then-director of the Johnson County Care Facility, in 1985.
Long term maintenance and stewardship plans for the site include the removal of invasive species, clearing fallen branches and debris, and reintroducing native prairie vegetation. The cemetery will be maintained through a more natural approach through the introduction of prairie vegetation. Future plans include the installation of interpretive signage to share historical context and the creation of a trail that leads to the cemetery.