Untold stories of a Mason City cemetery

(ABC 6 News) – The Elmwood – St. Joseph Cemetery took visitors on their annual history walk.

The theme this year was “Unmarked Graves and Untold Stories.”

Cemetery workers dug deep into their archives to unearth the stories of people buried long ago, including those who may not have had the money to be buried with a headstone.

They want to share those stories with the community, including an employee from Mason City’s old Colby Car Company and a Native American code talker from WWII.

Cemetery manager Tyler Anderson says they want people to think about history in a different way and gain perspective on how different things used to be.

“I think too often in life we just forget to slow down and understand how the past connects to the present and the future,” said Anderson.

There have been talks to create a monument memorializing all the people buried in unmarked graves so their stories will no longer go forgotten.