Sharon Cemetery Historic District is located in rural Harrison Township,

Lee County, Iowa Lee County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,555. The county seats are Fort Madison and Keokuk. Lee County is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA- IL- MO Micropolitan Sta ...

, United States near the town of

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia * Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States *Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California *Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia * ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1991. At the time of its nomination the

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

included four

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, one

contributing site In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, eight

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, and one

contributing object In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. with The buildings in the district belong to Sharon Presbyterian Church and the cemetery in the churchyard. They include the church itself (1885), the

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

(1918), the sexton's house (1899), and the toilet rooms and lavatory (c. 1902). The buildings are all of frame construction. The cemetery itself is the contributing site. It was divided into two sections. The oldest section is and was established in the 1860s. The newer section, also four acres, surrounds the older section and was added in 1899. O.C. Simonds was a

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

who laid out the

rural cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries. They were typically built one to five ...

and created a plan for plantings on the property, but it is unclear how closely the plan was followed. An American Revolutionary War soldier who died in Lee County was reburied in the cemetery and a grave marker for him was erected in 1907 by an act of the

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repres ...

. The contributing object is a water fountain with a

galvanized iron Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...

basin that is located at the junction of the entry-drive and the loop driveway. Other contributing structures include the driveways, entry gate, walkways, drainage system, stone curbs, hitching posts, and the coping, fence, and pedestrian gates. File:Sharon Church 1.jpg, Sharon Presbyterian Church File:Garden Bath.jpg, Fountain File:Sharon Cemetery 5.jpg, Lamb sculpture on a grave marker File:Sharon Church 4.jpg, Part of the fence

References

External links

* {{Lee County NRHP Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Lee County, Iowa Historic districts in Lee County, Iowa