Farmington Heritage Landmarks - Middle Creek Historic Cemetary
(Information taken from City of Farmington Heritage Landmarks Website http://www.ci.farmington.mn.us/AboutFarmington/HeritagePreservation/HeritageLandmarks.html)
The historic cemetery is situated on the summit of a low, wooded hill near the intersection of Akin Road and Eaves Way, immediately north of the Middle Creek Estates Subdivision. The burial encompasses a rectangular shaped parcel measuring approximately 264x165 ft. and oriented east-west. Historically, the site was unplatted but removed from routine farming activities. It was in use until the early twentieth century, when it was abandoned and fell into neglect.
The cemetery was largely forgotten until 2001 when a developer proposed to build a residential subdivision called Middle Creek Estates on a parcel west of Akin Road. The Heritage Preservation Commission reviewed the plat application and recommended that the developer survey the cemetery, stake the boundaries, and fence the site as a condition of plat approval.
Near the center of the historic site there is a small open area with a cluster of stone grave markers and scattered fragments of broken gravestones. The largest of these is a marble tablet inscribed in low fragments of broken gravestones. The largest of these is a marble tablet inscribed with the names of Charles Seward, S. Anderson, and Caroline Seward. The other stones and stone fragments lack readable inscriptions. There is evidence of an old trail or lane leading to the cemetery from Akin Road, but at present public access to the site is over a pedestrian trail from the City’s Pine Knoll lift station.
Information about the persons interred at the cemetery is sketchy. According to the 1881 narrative history of Dakota County, the first burial, that of Ada Bacon, occurred in 1859, and in June 1868, the plot of land was donated by Samuel Osborne to the Trustees of Farmington Presbyterian Church for use as a cemetery. Charles Seward’s obituary in the March 8, 1901 issue of the Dakota County Tribune, notes that he was buried in the “old cemetery in Judson’s Grove.” The cemetery is located on the map of Farmington published in 1896 but it does not appear on any modern topographical or street map. Local genealogists have documented at least twenty-four burials, including several members of the Seward and Witherell families, and suggest that the cemetery was no longer used after 1906. A grave robber is purported to have disturbed at least one grave in 1980.