Highland Cemetery (Wichita's abandoned pioneer cemetery)
Wichita's oldest cemetery (est. 1870) was abandoned by its cemetery company in 1982 and is the city's most vandalized burial ground — a 25-acre field of toppled pioneer markers and unmarked graves. The original 'Buffalo Bill,' Col. William Mathewson, lies here under an ornate monument, and a nonprofit is still hunting for the lost graves of the city's founders.
The move: Go at golden hour and play amateur historian: hunt down Mathewson's monument and the half-sunken pioneer stones, then read each other the names off markers nobody else visits anymore.
- 📍 Hillside / Midtown (just north of College Hill)
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 1005 N Hillside Ave, Wichita, KS 67214
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Verified 2026-06-06.