Directions to New and Old Prospect Cemeteries
  1. New Prospect Cemetery: Take US 54 to New Bloomfield (mid-way between Fulton and Jefferson City, Missouri).
  2. Exit US 54 and go west a mile through New Bloomfield on SR J (but continue straight onto SR MM when J turns sharp-right north toward Guthrie).
  3. Just west of New Bloomfield's new homes along MM, left turn from MM onto CR 371 and go south a mile. New Prospect Cemetery is on roadside-left, just after 371 bends to left. So New Bloomfield to New Prospect cemetery is about a mile west, then a mile south.
OLD Prospect Cemetery from New Prospect Cemetery is a mile away, but off-road in a private-farm cow-pasture so a smidgen more complicated to get to.
  1. Continue past New Prospect Cemetery south on 371 to a "T" intersection with CR 372.
  2. Turn right (west) on 372 1/4 mile to a private road on left (iron and chained gate and "no trespassing" sign).
  3. This is the Wekenberg's farm. They now live in Jeff. Is OK to visit Old Prospect Cemetery located at far edge of their two cow-pastures there.
  4. Go thru their iron gate (closing gate behind you).
  5. Drive their short private road up to and to left around an in-sight barn.
  6. Drive through two pastures (hanging to left mostly). There's a big no-fence gap to get into second pasture.
  7. You might spot the Doty home/farm on far right as you approach back end of second pasture...and our fenced-in Old Prospect (School) Cemetery.
  8. Look for a big cedar with recent major winter ice-storms damage. One can drive right up to cemetery's walk-in entrance gate.
  9. That fence row to right of cemetery was the original access road to Prospect Cemetery/school/church...two wagon-widths wide, and today chock-full of large trees and tangles of under-brush.
  10. Next to mid-Cemetery in a field to right, one can see a thick island a few yards out. Here exists the foundation of Prospect School, a sealed well, and today's big thorn trees. A fence-gate just to right of cemetery entrance gate allows us optional easy-access to walk to this island clump if we wish.
Alternate directions to Old Prospect for walkers: From step 4 above (Wekenberg gate):
  1. Drive on CR 372 past Wekenberg's iron gate another 1/4 mile until there's a straight road off 372 to left.
  2. This is a public road but is badly maintained. It has only one home about 200 yards at its end, the Doty farm.
  3. One can park near their sheds, and walk to side of their house to locate a fence gate.
  4. Walk through gate and straight up the field keeping a fence row on your right...maybe 1/4 mile in Wekenberg's cow pasture. This fence row is along edge of the Old Prospect cemetery/church/school access road of 1800s.
  5. The Doty's often aren't home during weekdays...but welcome rare visits to our Cemetery through their pasture-gate. If they ARE home, we always tell them what we're about to do. Else, we just park and walk into next field. And in all the above routes, we leave gates, chains, fences, flora, fauna, private property items...just as we found them (or even a bit better).
Old Prospect's current mower Mike Martin uses the drive-into alternative...to bring in his mower. He says that even in long-grass seasons, any reasonably high-wheeled vehicle sholuld be able to drive over the fields, except during rain-days when the fields' lower areas become more treacherous terrain to transverse.

I use the Doty-home walk-in alternative except when guiding older visitors to this well-maintained half-hidden perpetual-care old cemetery.

-- Jim Fleming, New Prospect Cemetery Association.
Music: "Someone to Watch Over me"