Prairie View Cemetery is located one mile south and one mile west of Paullina, O'Brien County, Iowa. The town that would become Paullina started to grow in earnest in about 1882 as the railway reached the northwestern Iowa location. Buildings were erected, and people had near neighbors on this vast prairie, but there was no local cemetery. By 1883, it was generally agreed that a cemetery site should be chosen and improved for burials, as the nearest cemeteries were eight or more miles distant.

In May of that year, the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Mugge died, and there is no mention of her burial place. The family moved on, and although there are Mugges still in O'Brien county, the baby's grave still has not been found. The task of establishing a burial ground became more urgent within the community.
At the end of May, Samuel Eliph Hastings, aged two, died after a "lingering and painful illness." He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Hastings -- the village blacksmith. Eliph's is thought to be the first funeral at the new "Union Cemetery," named for its location in Union Township of O'Brien County. As sometimes happens, his memorial marker says he passed on June 30, 1883. This cannot be accurate, as the newspaper with his death notice was published on May 31 of that year. So little Eliph's burial at the "new" cemetery has a marker with the wrong date of death.

In 1899, the cemetery was renamed Prairie View, and is still often called the "Old Paullina Cemetery." It has filled to near capacity, and the vast majority of interments as of this writing are at West Prairie View, across the road to the west. Most of the funeral homes simply state, "Prairie View," and if you missed the graveside services, the grave may yet need to be found.