It is not known exactly when the Nokomis Cemetery was started in Nokomis but the oldest grave marker shows that a ten-year-old girl, Susan Travis, was buried there in 1863. At that time the cemetery was known as Prospect Hill Cemetery. It is believed that our very earliest settlers prior to 1863 buried their dead at Oak Grove Cemetery (Cottingham's Grove), just a couple of miles south of town or in family plots on their farms.

For many years the city's Board of Trustees had the job of selling cemetery plots. They were sold for ten dollars each until Nov. 1913 when the cost of a lot was raised to twenty dollars each. It is believed that shortly after this, the name of the cemetery was changed from Prospect Hill to Nokomis Cemetery.

In 1919 a quick claim deed was issued conveying the Nokomis Cemetery from the city's responsibility to a newly formed organization named The Nokomis Cemetery Association. This new committee would be responsible for selling lots, keeping maps for grave locations, and seeing to the upkeep of the cemetery. The Cemetery Association still has that job today.

Taken from: Nokomis Sesquicentennial 1856-2006
Provided by: Marjorie Bailey