The first cemetery associated with the Iowa Men's Reformatory, now a penitentiary, was begun in 1876 at Prison Farm No.

[2] The graves are of those prisoners whose bodies were left unclaimed or were not taken to one of the state's medical colleges.

[2] Tall limestone markers were placed at each grave and contained the prisoner's name and death date.

Subsequent graves hold individual bodies, and are marked with shorter limestone markers with the prisoner's name, age, date of death, and sometimes their prison number.

It is marked with an iron entrance gate with the words "Anamosa State Penitentiary Cemetery" across the top.