Entry No. 20 — the Des Moines file — filed under: cemetery
Woodland Cemetery — City Receiving Vault & Baby Hill
Des Moines' oldest cemetery, established in 1848 on land donated by five farmers, holds more than 80,000 graves on 65+ acres. Its 1880s City Receiving Vault was built to store bodies through winter when the ground was too frozen to dig — corpses waited there until spring, a practice that lasted until around 1910. Nearby 'Baby Hill' holds hundreds of children's graves that went unmarked for over a century until a 2017 marker project. Parks & Rec maintains QR-code grave markers that tell the stories of the city's earliest residents.
The story
In 1848, five local farmers pooled their acreage to carve out Des Moines' first municipal burial ground. Today, those original plots are swallowed inside a 65-plus-acre maze holding more than 80,000 dead. But if you know where to look among the earliest rows, you'll run straight into a monument to brutal prairie reality: the 1880s City Receiving Vault. Before power excavators existed, Iowa winters froze the topsoil into solid granite. The city's solution was simple and bleak—stack the deceased inside this stone vault to wait out the frost, holding corpses in cold storage until the spring thaw allowed gravediggers to break ground, a ritual that endured until roughly 1910.
Not far from the vault sits 'Baby Hill,' an unassuming slope hiding one of the cemetery's most devastating secrets. For over a century, hundreds of infants and young children were interred here without headstones or names, lost to quiet anonymity until a 2017 marker project finally recognized their resting places. Today, you can track these long-unspoken stories yourself: Des Moines Parks & Rec has affixed subtle QR-code markers to grave sites across the grounds, letting you scan headstones with your phone to pull up primary obituaries and pioneer lore directly above the people who lived them.
What it's like
Pass through the stone-pillared main entrance at 20th Street and Woodland Avenue, right on the border of Sherman Hill. The winding internal roads cut across steep, rolling terrain, so wear shoes with good tread and visit during dry weather. Remember that despite the eerie history of the vault and Baby Hill, this is an active municipal cemetery—gates lock strictly around dark, and you may encounter live burial services. Keep your visit strictly to daylight hours, move respectfully, and bring a fully charged phone to scan the QR codes pinned to the oldest 1848 section.
The move: Wander the oldest rows at dusk and find the City Receiving Vault, then scan the QR-code markers to read the dead's stories aloud to each other on the way up to Baby Hill.
📍 Before you go The cemetery sits at the corner of 20th Street and Woodland Avenue in the Sherman Hill / Woodland Heights area, just west of downtown; the stone-pillared main gate opens off Woodland Avenue, and winding interior roads let you drive or walk between sections. Come in daylight — it is an active municipal burying ground, so gates close around dark, services may be underway, and quiet respect is expected despite the spooky framing. The grounds are hilly, so dry-weather footing is easier; the oldest, most atmospheric rows cluster near the original 1848 land. Afterward, the Victorian mansions of the Sherman Hill historic district are a short walk away.
- 📍 Sherman Hill / Woodland Heights
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 2019 Woodland Ave, Des Moines, IA 50312
Hours: Public municipal cemetery, generally open daylight hours. Self-guided QR-code tour available year-round; check Des Moines Parks & Rec for any scheduled guided cemetery tours.
Pair it with
- Sherman Hill Historic Gaslight Ghost Tour — Follow up a daytime walk through Woodland's historic receiving vault with an evening gaslight tour through the Victorian neighborhood right next door.
- Ancient Ways — Head four-tenths of a mile north after reading the cemetery's oldest headstones to browse ritual herbs, books, and tarot decks in the Drake neighborhood.
- Enchanted (Enchanted Mystical Boutique) — Pair your self-guided graveyard excursion with a tarot salon reading down on Ingersoll Avenue.
Good to know
What was the purpose of the City Receiving Vault?
Built in the 1880s, the vault held corpses during winter when Iowa topsoil was frozen too hard to dig graves, storing bodies until the spring thaw made excavation possible.
Why were the graves on Baby Hill unmarked for so long?
Hundreds of infants and children were buried in this section without individual headstones for over a century, remaining anonymous until a dedicated marker project was established in 2017.
How do you access the self-guided history tour?
Look for small QR codes attached to historic headstones throughout the cemetery; scanning them on your mobile browser pulls up archival details curated by Des Moines Parks & Rec.
Are there set visiting hours?
Woodland Cemetery is a public city ground open during daylight hours; gates close at dark, and visitors are expected to maintain quiet respect.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · Axios
last checked: 2026-06-06