This Secret 1800s Cemetery Is All That’s Left of a Vanished Minnesota Ghost Town
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
There’s a spot in Winona County, right in the heart of the Whitewater Wildlife Management Area, where an entire Minnesota town has disappeared. All that remains is a small, quiet cemetery. It's so tucked away and hidden, you'd never stumble across it by accident.
It’s called Whitewater Falls, and if you’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone. I didn’t know about it either until I saw a mention of it in my Facebook feed recently. Naturally, I had to find out a little more about this forgotten piece of SE Minnesota history, so I took a drive to check it out and take some pictures.
Whitewater Falls Was Once a Bustling SE Minnesota River Town
Back in the mid-1800s, Whitewater Falls had enough going on to warrant its own post office. It opened in 1856 and stayed busy for more than 40 years, until 1899. The town's population reportedly peaked at around 100 in 1895.
The name came from the Whitewater River, which still winds through the area today.
What Happened to Whitewater Falls?
Like many small Minnesota towns of that era, Whitewater Falls ran into trouble with flooding and erosion. Farmers had cleared the surrounding hillsides for crops, and over time, rain washed away the soil, turning much of it into sand.
When the land couldn’t support farming anymore, people moved on. Buildings disappeared, nature took over, and eventually, all that was left was a cemetery on a quiet hill.
Visiting the Hidden Whitewater Cemetery, The Last Piece of Whitewater Falls, MN
Just over 30 miles northeast of Rochester, if you drive along Highway 74 between Elba and Beaver, you won’t see much that looks like a town. But tucked away deep in the rolling bluffs of southeast Minnesota is the Whitewater Falls Cemetery, the only remaining marker that a community once thrived here.
The entrance is easy to miss. It's just a sliver of an opening off a gravel stretch of Highway 74. There's no sign, and a canopy of trees swallows the small road, so if you’re not watching, you’ll drive right past it, which is exactly what I did.
When you pull in, the shaded clearing looks like a dead end, but walk past the brown metal swing gates just beyond the trees, and a narrow path jets off to the right up a small hill, revealing the cemetery hidden away in the woods at the top.
The grass is trimmed, the air is still, and the soft light filters through the trees in a way that feels almost protective.
Despite its age, the cemetery isn’t abandoned. The DNR’s been looking after the 2.5-acre plot since the 1980s, and from what I saw, they’re doing a wonderful job keeping it cared for.
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Duck under the low-hanging branches to step into the graveyard, where under the shade of century-old oaks, you’ll find the graves of pioneers, Civil War vets, and even an early Minnesota lawmaker.
One of Whitewater Falls' most notable residents was Clark William Trisler, a farmer who also served in the Minnesota House of Representatives in the 1870s. He and his family called Whitewater Falls home, and he’s still buried there today.
Most of the headstones date back to the 1800s, and if you stand there long enough, it's easy to imagine what the area looked like when the post office was buzzing, with wagons and horses kicking up dust on the roads.
This is easily one of the most unique and intriguing cemeteries in Minnesota, and as if a secret graveyard in the middle of a wildlife area isn't compelling enough, Whitewater Falls Cemetery has recently been the center of a long legal dispute.
A Legal Battle Over Who Owns Whitewater Falls Cemetery
Back in 2020, an out-of-state developer, Edward Bixby from New Jersey, tried to claim the cemetery through adverse possession, also known as "squatter's rights."
It's a legal principle that allows someone to claim ownership of land they don't legally own by openly occupying it for a long period of time. The idea is that if the true owner neglects the property for long enough, the person using it “squats” their way into legal ownership.
However, not only is Whitewater Cemetery obviously not neglected, but Minnesota law also specifically exempts cemeteries from adverse possession.
According to Winona Post, Bixby planned to sell natural or "green" burial plots on the site. The county records valued that section of land at $69,000 back in 2020, but he’d get it for free if the claim succeeded.
A cease-and-desist letter was sent to Bixby by the Minnesota DNR's Fish and Wildlife director at the time, telling Bixby his "claims are meritless."
A few years later, a two-year moratorium on green burials was passed on July 1, 2023. Still, MinnPost reported that Bixby and his business partner had no intention of giving up. “At the end of the day, even if we had to wait two years, it wouldn’t change the outcome," Bixby said.
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That moratorium officially ended July 1, 2025, but whether the land ends up in Bixby's hands or stays under county and DNR protection appears to remain unresolved. But one thing is clear: even nearly two centuries later, the last piece of Whitewater Falls is still fiercely defended.
Why The Whitewater Falls Ghost Town and Cemetery Still Matter
It’s a reminder that history isn’t just something in books; it’s still right here under our feet. That’s what makes Minnesota’s ghost towns so fascinating. They’re not just “gone.” They’re still here in the stories, the land, and sometimes in a quiet patch of grass where a few weathered stones hold the last traces of a whole community.
If you want to see a slice of Minnesota history you won’t find in most travel guides, Whitewater Falls Cemetery is worth the detour. And if you do decide to visit, please be respectful... and bring mosquito repellent!
If exploring hidden corners like Whitewater Falls Cemetery piques your curiosity, you might be surprised by just how many abandoned places Minnesota has tucked away. Here are a few you probably didn’t know existed:
Minnesota's Abandoned Places You Didn't Know Existed
Gallery Credit: Carly Ross
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