Entry No. 48 — the Des Moines file — filed under: ghost-town
Buxton Historic Townsite & Cemetery
The vanished site of Buxton, a 1900-1920s coal town of ~5,000 that was a rare, thriving racially-integrated community with Black doctors, lawyers, and teachers. Today little remains but an overgrown cemetery and the prairie that swallowed the rest.
The move: Visit in daylight and read the historical markers, then walk to the cemetery a quarter-mile south to find the surviving headstones of the miners and their families.
📍 Before you go This is a rural pilgrimage, not a city stop: the townsite sits east of Lovilia in Monroe County, well over an hour's drive south of Des Moines, and the ruins themselves stand on private land the owner set aside in the Conservation Reserve Program — arrange access through the Monroe County Historical Society rather than walking in cold. The cemetery is the piece you can find on your own, about a quarter-mile south of a gravel road through open pasture; only a scattering of reset headstones survives, so wear real boots and expect uneven, overgrown ground. There are no facilities out here, so handle gas and food in Lovilia or Albia first. Pair it with the Monroe County Historical Society & Museum in Albia (a seasonal, weekends-in-the-warm-months operation) for the Buxton artifacts, then stroll Albia's restored Victorian square.
- 📍 Lovilia (Monroe County)
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: East of Lovilia, IA; townsite interpreted by the State Historical Society of Iowa
Hours: Added 2026-06-09 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3
last checked: 2026-06-09