Beaver Township Cemetery and Prairie

Discover Beaver Township Cemetery and Prairie in Dike

Long ago the stones that marked the graves of pioneers and early settlers were moved to the center of this 3-acre plot. The plan was to modernize the area: to plow the surface and smooth it out, so the grass could be cut short and neat like so many other cemeteries. But tragedy struck. The Fern General Store that housed records of the people who were buried there caught fire, and they were lost to the flames. A new plan and a memorial were made: the cemetery was to be kept as wild prairie as the settlers had known it when they were laid to rest. The stones remained in the middle of the plot, and a stone and bronze marker containing the last names of the people believed to be buried there now stands in one corner. Though fire created this circumstance, it still has a part to play. Every two to three years, controlled burns are performed by trained staff. The flames scorch away invasive weeds and dead plant material, adding nutrients back into the soil. The native grasses and flowers, adapted to the prairie fires that were once so common in Iowa, create new growth and bloom again. No plow has touched this land.