Please note that people frequently mix this cemetery Zion Cemetery (Paynesville, Stearns County, Minnesota) up with a nearby one named Zion-Irving Lutheran Cemetery (Hawick in Irving Township, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota). To add to the confusion, obituaries sometimes refer to both of them as located in rural Paynesville.

This Zion Cemetery, Paynesville, Stearns County cemetery has been affiliated with United Brethren and/or Methodist congregations for many years. As of 2013, it is currently affiliated with Grace United Methodist Church (Grace UMC) in Paynesville, Minnesota.

The cemetery originally belonged to Zion Evangelical Church. Zion was a member of the Evangelical Association founded by Rev. Jacob Albrecht / Albright. According to historical notes (believed to be from a United Methodist Church - Minnesota Conference document), the church building itself was built in 1874. A parsonage was later built next to it. According to the Grace UMC 150 years booklet, the church was razed in the early 1940's after the congregation joined the First Evangelical Church in Paynesville, now Grace UMC. There was not room next to the church for a cemetery, so Gustave A. Gedosch (1866 - 1942) and his wife, Anne R. Gedosch (1871-1946) donated the original land, approximately one acre, for the cemetery. Another acre was purchased in 2004 from Richard Lahr.

In 1946, the denomination, by now called the Evangelical Church, merged with the United Brethren in Christ to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB). In 1968, the EUB merged with the Methodist Episcopal Church to form the United Methodist Church. In 1969, the Paynesville area EUB and Methodist churches came together to form Grace United Methodist Church, retaining the old First Evangelical Church buildings. The records for Zion Evangelical Church are now at Grace UMC.