A look back at Mount Hope’s origins

Humboldt's Mount Hope Cemetery has been a community fixture since the 1800s.

By

Local News

August 19, 2026 - 3:04 PM

Jim Woods, a valued volunteer at Mount Hope Cemetery, works most mornings at the cemetery doing all sorts of tasks to improve graveyard appearance. Photo by Bob Johnson / Iola Register

Humboldt’s first attempt at establishing a cemetery arose in 1866 when a board of trustees was established and bought three acres.

Within three years gravediggers — by way of shovels and pick axes — declared mutiny on the limestone that lay just below the surface and canceled the area for a cemetery. 

The owners, William and Alma Wakefield, agreed to take the land back, and the hunt was on for another site, preferably with dirt.

Until then, burials were catch-as-catch-can, and there likely were some folks living in semi-secluded areas who weren’t happy…

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