So how many Lucas County cemeteries are there?

Someone asked me the other day, "How many Lucas County cemeteries are there?" 

"About 50" seemed like a safe answer --- and as it turns out that was about right. There are 46.

These range from bare plots of ground where unmarked graves reportedly are located to the Chariton Cemetery, the largest.

Twenty-six are Pioneer Cemeteries, cared for by the Lucas County Pioneer Cemetery Commission. The remaining 20 are administered by township trustees, cities or associations.

I've dropped the names and approximate locations on an 1896 plat map of the county, easterly townships first (English, Pleasant, Lincoln, Cedar, Benton, Washington) and westerly townships second (Otter Creek, Liberty, Jackson, White Breast, Union and Warren).

Red indicates Pioneer Cemetery; blue indicates cemeteries otherwise administered. Circled crosses indicate cemeteries marked on the original maps; solid circles, cemeteries missed by whoever produced the 1896 map.

In a couple of instances, that map's compiler mislocated cemeteries.

Pioneer Cemetery is a designation that dates from 1997, when the Pioneer Cemetery Commission was formed by the Lucas County Board of Supervisors.

Prior to 1996, Iowa had hundreds if not thousands of pioneer graveyards that had been abandoned or were minimally maintained. Legislation signed that year allowed county boards of supervisors to assume control of these cemeteries, if they wished to do so. The supervisors were authorized to pass responsibility for the repair and care of the pioneer cemeteries on to pioneer cemetery commissions. The costs of repair and maintenance by these commissions, by law, are covered by the county's general fund rather than a supplemental tax levy.

Originally, a pioneer cemetery was defined as one in which six or fewer burials had occurred within the preceding 50 years. That was changed in 2009 when eligibility was raised to 12 or fewer burials within the preceding 50 years.

Between 1997 and now, Lucas County's commissioners --- and many volunteers --- have moved mountains to ensure that our pioneer graveyards are in good repair, fenced when necessary and regularly maintained.

Keep in mind when you look at the maps that not all cemeteries eligible for the pioneer cemetery status have sought it. Further, burials still may occur in pioneer cemeteries --- if the commissioners agree and it is practical --- without loss of the designation.

It may well be that I've overlooked a cemetery or two here. If you find an error, indicate same in a social media or blog comment and I'll investigate.