The following description is a story about the Jordan Cemetery that appeared in an article written in the Iowa Living Magazine on 10/09/2013.
To better understand the historic significance of Jordan Cemetery it helps to know something about the man who founded it and for which it is named.
One of Iowa’s most influential pioneers, James Jordan settled in the area formerly known as Walnut Township in 1846. An astute businessman, he organized the State Bank of Des Moines and was instrumental in bringing the railroad to Des Moines, as well as platting Valley Junction and raising $70,000 to create a railroad here.
Jordan was also active in Iowa politics. He served on the Polk County Board of Supervisors and was elected to the Iowa Senate and the House of Representatives. During his tenure in the legislature, he led the drive to relocate the State Capitol from Iowa City to Des Moines.
In 1850, Jordan and his first wife, Melinda, began working on the Jordan House, which now serves as a museum located at 2001 Fuller Road. During the antebellum period, fugitive slaves were hidden in the house, as it was a designated stopover on the secret Underground Railroad.
Jordan Cemetery was founded and named after one of Iowa’s most
influential pioneers, James Jordan.
After the death of his first wife in 1855, Jordan buried her on a plot of land owned by the family located west of their home. According to the city’s website, “The cemetery initially may have been planned as a family burial area, or for burials of members of the pioneer families who died on their way westward.”
Grave markers indicate that Melinda Jordan was one of the first burials there in 1855. Monuments in the cemetery contain the names of members of some of the city’s earliest and most prominent residents and some of the city’s first Mexican-American settlers are buried there, too.
James Jordan, who died in 1891 at the age of 76, two years before West Des Moines was incorporated, deeded the cemetery land to a cemetery association to administer.
“There is a lot of history there. That’s what’s so cool about it,” says Sally Ortgies, the city’s superintendent of parks. “People today still have connections to the original families buried there.”
City officials say in 1920 the cemetery association voted to ask Valley Junction to provide funds to help maintain Jordan Cemetery. It was annexed by the city in 1960, and five years later the city assumed its management.
Today, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department oversees its 10 acres and burials. Plots are available in a newly-created section on the west side of the grounds.
GCRM
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