Over the past 10 years, members of Marion County had become concerned about the state of the pioneer cemeteries in the county. With our proximity to the Des Moines River, Marion County has a very high number of pioneer cemeteries, often found in the back of cornfields…at the end of dead-end roads…along the fence rows of pastures. And many of these were in poor condition, some even being obliterated and no longer recognizable.

The Marion County Pioneer Cemetery Commission (MCPCC) believes these cemeteries should be preserved for three reasons:

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• It’s a matter of respect. Just because there are no families left to care for these resting places doesn’t mean, we believe, that these cemeteries should simply be farmed over or left to disintegrate.
• It’s a matter of history. A walk among the stones of many of these cemeteries reveals the resting places of Marion County’s first pioneers. Dozens of people contact the MCPCC each year wanting information on ancestors. Our cemeteries are living history books.​
• It’s a matter of art and culture. The stonework, designs, and prose found on these stones are no longer manufactured on modern gravestones. They are works of artistic beauty. The sites for the cemeteries themselves are usually in lovely locations and need to be preserved.
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In June 2011, after being petitioned by Marion County residents, the Marion County Board of Supervisors chartered the MCPCC with the task of identifying, restoring, and maintaining pioneer cemeteries in the county that are not already being cared for by another entity.