The cemetery is located about 0.4 miles North of Long Memorial Park. Travel down Nature Road until you arrive at the turn off. Turn West and travel down the mowed lane until you reach the fenced area with a gate. The cemetery should be mowed and a bronze plaque is located near the gate, inside the fence. 

The Boone County Poor Farm was established in 1867 to house those in Boone County who were struggling financially. At the time, Iowa had one public asylum in Mt. Pleasant, The Iowa Lunatic Asylum built in 1861. Overcrowding at the state asylum, the desire to save taxpayer money, and a sense of responsibility on Boone County to care for its own, led to the building of the initial dwellings at the farm. 

Unfortunately, living conditions in the asylum structure deteriorated over the years and a tragic fire in 1894 took the lives of eight "insane" residents. All eight residents were reported to be buried in the farm cemetery. These were not the first documented deaths at the farm. 

Reports as early as 1870 mention 18 residents living at the farm, noting that "one died, two adopted and one sent to reform school." In 1875, the report from the steward of the farm mentioned the purchase of two coffins. Due to a lack of early documentation (official death registration began in 1880), it is unknown where these residents were interred. 

An informational display added to the former poor farm property in 2025 inaccurately reports that burials began in 1894.

The first burial documented in newspaper reporting and the death register was ten years prior in 1884, and was that of "Baby Casteel," a dead newborn found near the Poor Farm. The newspaper claimed the baby was born in the hay field and left by its mother, Mary E. Casteel (Sebring), who had concealed her pregnancy. The mother denied using violence, but the coroner's jury determined that the baby's neck was broken. 

The first documented burial of a poor farm resident was that of Charles Nordstom in 1891. His association with the farm was mentioned in the newspaper as early as 1883. 

A few records remain for the Boone County Poor Farm. They are housed at the Boone County Courthouse and have been transcribed to the internet. It was mentioned that these records were saved right before the building was finally demolished in 2004. There is also a WPA list of burials, which contained inaccuracies and was incomplete. 

After consulting the remaining records, death certificates, death registers, and newspaper articles, there has been evidence found for 77 burials at the cemetery. Records mention burial numbers sporadically and inconsistently up to burial #76, which was that of John Francis McGee. It has been reported that poor farm burials then moved to Mineral Ridge Cemetery , two miles up the road, in 1937. 

A newspaper report from 1899 mentioned that "the cemetery is provided with tombstones." In 1916 and 1918, newspaper reports mentioned that the Boone Marble Works supplied "markers for graveyard at (the) County Home." Conversations with those familiar with the farm mentioned gravemarkers remaining around the 1960's. It is believed that animal grazing destroyed the remaining markers. 

As of 2025, there was one remaining headstone, that of 16 year old Lyle Harris. It is unknown when the marker was added, but it is made of high quality material.

In 2025, a memorial plaque was added with 75 names of those believed to be buried in the cemetery. By chance, two additional burials were later discovered while going through newspaper articles. Death certificates were unable to be located for the two individuals and thus verify the place of burial. This is significant as during research, newspaper reporting for some resident deaths had provided burial information that later conflicted with official information provided by a death certificate. Additional names could likely be discovered in the future as more documents are transcribed to the internet and Artificial Intelligence can be utilized for more efficient research.