Tarrant County, TXGenWeb

Guide to Tarrant County Cemeteries

Compiled and Contributed by:
CarolAnn Jarnagin
Fort Worth, TX

DEDICATION

To Judy Smith, Greenwood Cemetery, for putting the idea for this guide in my head.

To the Local History librarians at the Fort Worth Public Library, who never let on that I was pestering them.

To Evelyn Cushman, for writing an absolutely fabulous book entitled Cemeteries of Northeast Tarrant County.

To my mother, for letting me commandeer her computer. Get well soon!

To my husband Steven, for always financing my research trips and giving me picture developing money without too much of a whimper.

CEMETERY - (n) A place set aside for burial or entombment of the dead.

Inhumation, or burial of the dead, has been practiced by man since prehistoric times. Early Homo sapiens sapiens first used collective burial sites and included grave goods, items buried with the deceased individual. The full significance of these traditions is not known, but it seems to indicate some ritual care in the disposal of the dead as well as some kind of belief in an afterlife. In later periods of history, cremation became more common, and the Egyptian practice of mummification developed. Modern man has primarily used inhumation to dispose of his dead. It is the most common method used by peoples professing Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Hindu and Buddhist peoples traditionally practice cremation.

MAUSOLEUM - (n) An above-ground chamber in which the dead are buried.

After the death of King Mauslos of Halicarnassus in 353 B.C., his widow and Queen, Artemisia, commissioned the artists of Greece to collaborate and create a tomb that would be a fitting memorial to his genius and love for her. These men raised a rectangular tomb of white marble over a base of bricks, covered it with a pyramidal roof, and adorned it with columns, statuary, and reliefs. Works of art that were in this monument are now contained in the British Museum. Historians consider it one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
 

INTRODUCTION

I wrote this guide with the intention that it serve as a starting point for the researcher. I did not intend for it to provide all the information available concerning these cemeteries and burial plots, but rather for it to give the interested individual the basic information to point him or her on his or her way. I have, therefore, highlighted the most interesting and significant facts regarding the cemeteries in what I hope is a comprehensive format. Of course, what constitutes interesting and significant is a subjective judgement - I can only hope that the researcher can see my reasoning.

The main section of the guide consists of profiles of the most historic cemeteries in Tarrant County. In determining which plots to include in this section, I considered several factors:

Location of the cemetery - whether it served a pioneer colony or was otherwise influential in the development of a city.

The individual who established the cemetery - whether he was a well known pioneer or an influential member of the community.

Affiliation of the cemetery - whether it was or is affiliated with a particular religious or community group.

Who is buried in the cemetery - whether they were individuals who shaped this county or otherwise influenced its history.

History of the cemetery - whether there is a significant or interesting story regarding its beginnings.

I compiled information about the cemeteries that met one or more of these criteria into an easy-to-use reference page. All of these information pages contain Fort Worth Mapsco grid locations, explicit directions originating from the closest highway, a brief history of the cemetery, notable features and burials, and significant dates in the cemetery's history.

The remaining burial plots are contained in an appendix. They include small family plots, "lost" cemeteries, destroyed cemeteries, and cemeteries rumored to have existed at one time or another. Some have Fort Worth Mapsco grids, but some are impossible to find or no longer exist. Each contains a brief history of the plot.

I hope that this guide provides you, the researcher, with the information you need to begin your search, whether it's for the grave of General Tarrant or the grave of your grandfather. Happy hunting!

November 28, 1994
 

AHAVATH SHOLOM HEBREW CEMETERY, University Drive at White Settlement Road, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 62W - From I-30, take University Drive north to White Settlement Road. Cross White Settlement Road - Ahavath Sholom Hebrew Cemetery is on the west side of University Drive.

HISTORY - In 1909, Congregation Ahavath Sholom purchased a six acre tract from Greenwood Cemetery and dedicated a Hebrew burial ground. In 1929, the Congregation struck an agreement with Greenwood to enlarge the cemetery to its present size, and formed a Ladies' Cemetery Society to oversee the upkeep of the cemetery. They dedicated the Kornbleet Chapel in 1988.

A Holocaust memorial stands as a reminder of the millions of Jews slain during the Nazi regime, raised by Congregation members who lost relatives to Hitler.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Charles Hurwitz, 1910. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1992.

ARWINE CEMETERY, 700 Arwine Cemetery Road, Hurst

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 53V - From IH-820E, take Pipeline Road east to Arwine Cemetery Road. Turn south on Arwine Cemetery Road - Arwine Cemetery will be at the end of the road on the right.

HISTORY - Deputy U.S. Marshal Daniel Arwine (1830 - 1887) migrated to Texas from Indiana in 1865. In 1879, he deeded six acres of land to the community for a school, church, and cemetery. The schoolhouse served as a worship hall and meeting place for the community. The 279 known graves contain community members as well as the Arwine family. Relatives, local Boy Scouts, and the Arwine Cemetery Association maintain the cemetery.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Katy Arwine, 1879. Arwine Cemetery Association formed, 1975. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1977.

ASH CREEK CEMETERY, 400 South Stewart Street, Azle

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 29E - From IH-820W, take the Highway 199 exit. Proceed west on Highway 199 to Azle. Exit on Stewart Street and turn south. The cemetery is located on the west side of the street.

HISTORY - Dr. James Azle Stewart and John Giles Reynolds each donated an acre of land to establish a community burial ground for the citizens of Azle. The Azle Cemetery Association expanded the cemetery in 1932, 1947, and 1959, constructed a tabernacle on the grounds, and maintains the grounds and burial records. The cemetery contains over 2000 burials and is still in use.

NOTABLE BURIALS - Dr. James Azle Stewart, for whom the town of Azle is named. William M. Rice (1803 - 1878), an early frontiersman and Alcalde in the Mexican government of Texas.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burials - Dave Morrison and W.P. Gregg, 1874. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1985.

AYRES CEMETERY, 2000 Beach Street, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 78A - From I-30, take the Beach Street exit. The cemetery is in the parking lot of the Clarion Inn located at the southwest corner of Beach Street and I-30.

HISTORY - In 1861, Benjamin Patton Ayres (1801? - 1862) and his wife Emily (1811? - 1863) bought a 320-acre farm and set aside two acres on a hillside as a family cemetery. Ayres served as the second District Clerk of Tarrant County and helped organize the Fort Worth First Christian Church.

An unknown number of plots lie outside the fenced family plot. They include victims of spring fevers and frequent Trinity River floods. None of their fieldstones have survived.

NOTABLE BURIALS - William Alfred Sanderson - A native of England, Sanderson came to Texas in 1841. He obtained a Republic of Texas land grant and settled in Tarrant County with his wife, the former Isabella Frances Ayres. He soon established himself as a farmer and stock raiser. He was a charter member of the Fort Worth First Christian Church and Justice of the Peace and played a role in the relocation of the Tarrant County seat from Birdville to Fort Worth.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Benjamin Patton Ayres, 1862. Registered as a Texas Historic landmark, 1984.

BEAR CREEK CEMETERY, 1400 block Minter's Chapel Road, Euless

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 56B - From Highway 183 (Airport Freeway), take the Bear Creek Parkway exit. Proceed north on Bear Creek Parkway to the East Harwood Road intersection. Turn east on East Harwood Road - the entrance to Bear Creek Cemetery is on the north side of the street.

HISTORY - Isham Crowley (died 1858), a settler in the Peters Colony, donated a burial ground adjacent to the Bear Creek Missionary Church. His family deeded it to the church trustees in 1876, and they named the cemetery the Crowley Prairie Cemetery. The church later moved to Dallas County and became the Western Heights Missionary Baptist Church. The cemetery was renamed Bear Creek Cemetery.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Hiram Jackson Farris, 1858. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1980.

BEDFORD CEMETERY, - 2400 Bedford Road, Bedford

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 54F - From Highway 183 (Airport Freeway), take the Central Drive exit. Turn north on Central Drive and continue to Bedford Road. Turn east on Bedford Road - Bedford Cemetery is on the north side of the street. There is no parking at the cemetery, but parking is available at the Bedford Church of Christ, located just to the east of the cemetery.

HISTORY - Historians believe that pioneers began using Bedford Cemetery during the 1860s. In 1877, Milton Moore deeded a five-acre plot of land, including this cemetery, to the New Hope Church of Christ. The Bedford Cemetery Association acquired the site in 1975. Many Bedford area pioneers lie here in unmarked graves.

The Bedford Old Settlers Reunion met here annually for over 50 years.

NOTABLE BURIALS - W.L. Hurst (1834 - 1922) - The city of Hurst, Texas, is named for this pioneer.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Elizabeth White Bobo, 1871. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1979.

BERACHA CEMETERY, Doug Russell Park, UTA Campus, Arlington

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 82R - From I-30, take the Cooper Street exit. Turn south on Cooper Street and continue to the University of Texas at Arlington campus. Turn west on Mitchell Street. Doug Russell Park is on the north side of Mitchell Street. The cemetery is in the extreme northern end of the park in a grove of trees. A chain link fence surrounds it. The Texas Historical Commission marker has been removed.

HISTORY - The Reverend J.T. Upchurch founded the Beracha Home for Homeless Girls and Unwed Mothers in the early 1900s. Many of the 80 graves contain infants born to the girls at the home, and several of the mothers repose near their children. Only a few have more than a small stone marker containing first names or, in the case of the infants, only numbers. Many graves lie unmarked.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - 1904, name unknown. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark,1981.

BIRDVILLE CEMETERY, 6100 Cemetery Road, Haltom City

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 65A - From IH-820E, take the Highway 10 exit. Proceed west on Highway 10 to Cemetery Road. Turn south on Cemetery Road - Birdville Cemetery is located behind a trailer park. It is kept locked to deter vandalism.

HISTORY - Residents of Birdville set aside a one-acre plot for burial purposes sometime before 1860. By 1910, the cemetery encompassed 3.27 acres through land grants. The Birdville Cemetery Association maintains the cemetery and burial records. The records reflect some families have up to four generations buried in one plot. The site has expanded to seven acres and is still used for burials.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Wiley Wilda Potts, 1852. Birdville Cemetery Association formed, 1917. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1975.

BOURLAND CEMETERY, Bourland Road, Keller

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 23F - From IH-820N, take the Highway 377 exit. Turn north on 377 and continue north to Keller. At the Johnson Road intersection, turn east on Johnson Road and continue to Ed Bourland Road. Turn north on Ed Bourland Road - Bourland Cemetery is on the west side of the road.

HISTORY - North Carolina native and Civil War veteran Aurelius Delphus Bourland (1840 - 1904) bought land in present day Keller in 1873. He established a family cemetery on his farm. In 1899, Bourland sold 2.5 acres, including the gravesites, to the citizens of Keller for use as a public burial ground. Additional land was given by the families of Bourland in 1947 and A.B. Harmonson (1891 - 1967) in 1977.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - unknown, research continues. Wrought iron and brick gateway constructed in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1981.

CALLOWAY CEMETERY, 12600 Calloway Cemetery Road, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 55Y - From Highway 183 (Airport Freeway), take the Industrial Boulevard exit. Turn south and continue to Calloway Cemetery Road. Turn east on Calloway Cemetery Road - Calloway Cemetery is approximately 1/2 mile east of Industrial Boulevard.

HISTORY - Brothers Richard and Joseph Calloway owned the land this cemetery sits on in the 1860s. The original site included the family cemetery and the graves of several neighbors. After the Calloway brothers' deaths, Richard's widow Catherine deeded the cemetery for use as a public burial ground. A wooden tabernacle was constructed in 1908. Relatives maintained the cemetery until 1971 when a perpetual care fund was set up.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Richard H. Calloway, 1874. Perpetual care fund established, 1971. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1980.

ALEXANDER DOBKINS FAMILY CEMETERY, Minters Chapel Road, D/FW Airport

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 56B - The cemetery is located 3/10 of a mile south and 1/2 mile east of the Harwood Road intersection, on D/FW Airport land. Access is limited to members of the family and by special permit only.

HISTORY - The cemetery originally sat on the Alexander Dobkins homestead, which encompassed 200 acres of the present day Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Dobkins and his wife Mary (1818 - 1880) migrated from Tennessee to Texas in 1852. Dobkins, a minister in the nearby Bear Creek Baptist Church, served as postmaster for the local community of Estill's Station during the Civil War. His son, William C. Dobkins (1841 - 1928), served the area as a physician, businessman, and civic leader. The cemetery contains the remains of Dobkins family members and friends.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Alexander Dobkins, 1869. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1981.

EMANUEL HEBREW REST CEMETERY, 1414 S. Main, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 77J - From I-35W, take the Rosedale Street exit. Turn west on Rosedale and proceed to Main Street. Turn south on Main Street - Emanuel Hebrew Rest is on the west side of the street. The cemetery is kept locked to deter vandalism.

HISTORY - Fort Worth philanthropist John Peter Smith donated land for this Jewish cemetery in 1879. Local Jewish families formed the Emanuel Hebrew Association to maintain the grounds. Congregation Beth-El has controlled the cemetery since 1962. The cemetery contains the remains of many of the early Jewish settlers and prominent Jewish business leaders of Tarrant County.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Leah Kaiser, 1879. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1981.

FORD CEMETERY, 602 Fountain Parkway, Grand Prairie

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 70P - From the Highway 360 access road, turn east on Fountain Parkway. The cemetery is located in between two large warehouses on the north side of the road.

HISTORY - Pinkney Harold Ford (1831 - 1901) led a Kentucky family who migrated to Texas in 1855. They settled in the Watson community, then located in present day North Arlington. John J. Goodwin held the original patent to this cemetery property. Ford, a Civil War veteran, purchased the property in 1879 and designated the site as a community burial ground. He and his wife Elizabeth (died 1898) farmed land near the cemetery.

Industrial development has surrounded the poorly maintained cemetery. It now sits in the heart of the Great Southwest Industrial Park.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Maria Trayler, 1858. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1982.

GIBBINS CEMETERY, 2200 block of North Davis Drive, Arlington

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 68U - From I-30, take the Fielder Road exit. Turn north on Fielder Road and continue to Lamar Boulevard. Take Lamar Boulevard east to David Drive. Turn north on Davis Drive - the Gibbins Cemetery is on the east side of the street in the parking lot of a supermarket.

HISTORY - James Gibbins (1817 - 1870) migrated to Texas from Arkansas in 1857. He bought land near present day Arlington. In 1863, Gibbins deeded part of the land to his son Thomas Jefferson Gibbins (1841 - 1891) who enlarged the homestead. Thomas' second wife maintained the land for three decades after her husband's death. The Gibbins family has contributed much to the North Arlington area, including land for a public school and the Rose-Brown-May Park.

Eight family graves are concreted over and surrounded by a brick and wrought iron fence.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Amanda C. Gibbins, 1877. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1982

GRAPEVINE CEMETERY, N. Dooley Street and Wildwood Lane, Grapevine

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 28E - From State Highway 1709 (Southlake Blvd.), travel east until it turns into Wall Street. Turn north on Dooley Street - Grapevine Cemetery is on the west side of the street.

HISTORY - Samuel D. Coble (1830 - 1890) settled in present day Grapevine in the 1850s. His brother Allen (1836 - 1906) later joined him. In 1878, the Coble brothers sold 4.5 acres of land for use as a public cemetery. The city acquired additional land south of the original tract in 1925. Grapevine Cemetery has a large number of children buried in it, indicating a high infant and child mortality rate in the early community.

NOTABLE BURIALS - Barton H. Starr (1850 - 1912) - the first mayor of Grapevine. James Tracy Morehead (1809 - 1897) - Morehead is credited with naming the town of Grapevine after some nearby springs. He presided over the elections that organized Parker County and served as Tarrant County's third Chief Justice.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Louisa C. Guidry, 1860. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1980.

GREENWOOD MEMORIAL PARK, 3100 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 62W - From I-30, take the University Drive exit. Proceed north on University Drive to the White Settlement Road intersection. Turn west on White Settlement Road - Greenwood Memorial Park is on the north side of the street.

HISTORY - Greenwood Memorial Park was dedicated in 1909 as a perpetual care, commercial cemetery. The cemetery is administered by the Mount Olivet Corporation, a non-profit organization headed by the Bailey family of Fort Worth.

NOTABLE FEATURES - The entrance of Greenwood is guarded by replicas of the Four Horses of St. Mark's. The original horses were sculpted by Lysippus, the favorite sculptor of Alexander the Great, and handed down to Cleopatra. They were part of the treasure taken from Actium to Rome by Octavian in 31 B.C. Around 330 A.D., the Constantines took the golden horses to Constantinople. In 1204, the Franks conquered Constantinople and gave the Venetians the horses in gratitude for their help. They remained in Venice until 1797, when they were moved to Paris by Napoleon. Emperor Francis I of Austria decreed that the horses be returned to Venice in 1815. They suffered neglect and disrepair for the next 165 years and were moved into a museum room in the Venice Cathedral. New bronze copies were made to place on the balcony of the Cathedral in their place. Greenwood acquired another cast of the horses to grace the entrance to the Memorial Park.

The Greenwood Mausoleum opened in 1961 and is considered an architectural masterpiece. The original architect, Harwell Hamilton Harris, received an award of honor from the Texas Society of Architects for his work on the building. Artist Wilbert Verhelst created the interior artwork and fountains that contribute to the calming and peaceful atmosphere of the mausoleum. The second section of the mausoleum contains Independence Chapel, featuring life size statues of the United States' founding patriots and a 12-foot mosaic of the Great Seal of the United States. Designed to be built over several years, Greenwood Mausoleum will eventually provide space for 70,000 persons.

NOTABLE BURIALS - Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn, mother of concert pianist Van Cliburn. Eddie Chiles, founder of the Western Companies. Lawrence Clifton Elliot, aviation pioneer who developed domestic flight routes. William John Marsh, composer of "Texas, Our Texas." Ormer Leslie Locklear, barnstormer and stunt pilot for Universal Studios. Memorial to the Royal Flying Corps, stationed at Camp Taliaferro in Tarrant County during World War I.

HANDLEY CEMETERY, Spur 303 and Handley Drive, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 80J - From IH-820E, take the Spur 303 exit. Turn east on 303 and continue to Handley Drive. Turn into the parking lot of the TU Electric Plant and proceed through the lot. Handley Cemetery is located to the east of the plant.

HISTORY - This cemetery served the early settlers of the Handley community, located in present day East Fort Worth. The Handley Community developed after the Texas and Pacific Railroad built a line to the area in 1876. A church building, constructed on adjacent land in 1882, remained there for 48 years. Several early settlers of the area were exhumed and reinterred at Rose Hill Cemetery. The last burial in Handley Cemetery occurred in 1967.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Jane E. Thomas, 1878. Registered as a Texas Historic landmark, 1981.

HARRISON CEMETERY, 8550 Meadowbrook Drive, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 81A - From IH-820E, take the Meadowbrook Drive exit. Proceed east on Meadowbrook Drive, then south on Cook's Lane. There will be a Meadowbrook Drive fork off of Cook's Lane. Take the fork to the east and continue across Eastchase Parkway. The Harrison Cemetery is located on private, fenced land and is difficult to see from the road.

HISTORY - Tarrant County pioneer D.C. Harrison first owned this one-acre cemetery. R.A. Randol (1850-1922) purchased the land in 1895 and deeded it forever as a burial ground. Randol, the owner of Randol Mill, buried his first wife, brother, and mother-in-law in this cemetery.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Mary E. Harrison, 1871. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1982.

HOOD CEMETERY, Peytonville Avenue, Southlake

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 25E - From State Highway 1709 (Southlake Blvd.), take Peytonville Avenue north approximately 1.8 miles. Hood Cemetery is located on private land 100 yards east of the street.

HISTORY - According to legend, Hood Cemetery began when a horse thief was hung on the site. His body was placed over a large salt barrel and left as a warning to other thieves. The hanging tree was a landmark for the cemetery until it burned in a brush fire in 1958. In 1871, the family of Thomas Hood (1823 - 1859), on whose farm the cemetery developed, set aside the plot. Approximately 38 readable headstones and many fieldstones remain in the cemetery.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Urias Martin, 1855. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1982.

MORGAN HOOD SURVEY PIONEER CEMETERY, State Highway 26 and Bethel Road, Grapevine

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 28D - From Highway 183, take the Highway 26 exit. Proceed southwest, along D/FW Airport property, approximately 1/4 mile southwest of Bethel Road. The historic marker is located on the southeast side of the street. The cemetery itself is inaccessible, located on D/FW Airport property.

HISTORY - Originally part of the Morgan Hood Survey, the cemetery has been abandoned for over 100 years. It contains one visible grave, marked with a sandstone burial cairn. No written records remain concerning this cemetery, but historians believe members of the Peters Colony used it. Overgrown brush obliterates the site.

NOTABLE DATES - Registered as a Texas Historic landmark, 1983.

MINTER'S CHAPEL CEMETERY, Glade Road and West Airfield Drive, D/FW Airport

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 42K - From Highway 121, take the Glade Road exit. Proceed east on Glade Road to West Airfield Drive. Take West Airfield Drive north - Minter's Chapel Cemetery is on a small cul-de-sac on the west side of the road.

HISTORY - Soon after lay minister Green W. Minter (1803 - 1887) arrived in northern Tarrant County in 1854, he helped organize Minter's Chapel Methodist Church. James Cate set aside 4.1 acres for the church and a burial ground. The early log meetinghouse was replaced in 1882 by a frame structure. In 1967, the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport acquired the surrounding land, but not the 1.5 acre cemetery, and the church was relocated.

The cemetery contains many small graves, indicating a high infant mortality rate in the community.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - A.M. Newton, 1857. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1979.

MOUNT GILEAD CEMETERY, Bancroft and J.T. Ottinger Roads, Keller

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 24A - From Highway 377 (Keller Main Street), turn east on Mt. Gilead Road to the Bourland Road intersection. Turn south on Bourland Road, then east on Bancroft. Mount Gilead Cemetery is approximately one mile down the road at the corner of Bancroft and Ottinger Roads.

HISTORY - This burial ground originally served a pioneer settlement of related families. They migrated to the area from Missouri in 1847 as members of the Peters Colony. They were headed by a widow, Permelia Allen (died 1866), who is buried here in an unmarked grave. The tract, first owned by Daniel Barcroft (1812 - 1881) and Iraneous Neace (1816 - 1879), contains homemade grave markers and plain fieldstones reflecting the pioneer lifestyles of early settlers.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - William Joyce, 1854. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1981.

MOUNT OLIVET CEMETERY, 2301 N. Sylvania, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 63G - From I-35W, take the NE 28th Street exit. Turn east on NE 28th Street and continue to N. Sylvania Avenue. Turn south on N. Sylvania - the gates of Mount Olivet Cemetery are on the west side of the street.

HISTORY - Flavious McPeak (1858 - 1933) and his wife, Johnnie Clara Lester McPeak (1858 - 1936), originally owned the 130 acres this cemetery stands on. They arrived in Fort Worth in 1894 from Tennessee. After having their tenth child, the McPeaks moved to a house on Lake Street in 1907. They then founded the cemetery, patterning it after Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. A mausoleum, completed in 1909, served as a temporary receiving vault and was torn down in 1983 when a new mausoleum was built.

Mount Olivet was the first perpetual care cemetery in Tarrant County. Its 47,000 burials include 594 victims of the 1918 flu epidemic, the McPeaks and members of their families, as well as many early settlers of Tarrant County.

A variety of free-standing and relief sculptures stand throughout the cemetery. Mount Olivet is currently administered by the Mount Olivet Corporation, a non-profit organization headed by the Bailey family of Fort Worth.

NOTABLE FEATURES - A bas-relief of Da Vinci's painting "The Lord's Supper." A crucifixion sculpture surrounded by the graves of priests and nuns. A monument to veterans of 20th century wars and military conflicts.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial - Zenas Ewin Kerr, 1907. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1986.

NEW TRINITY CEMETERY, NE 28th and Beach Streets, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 64A - From I-35W, take the NE 28th Street exit. Proceed east on NE 28th Street to the Beach Street intersection - New Trinity Cemetery is located on the northeast corner of the intersection.

HISTORY - When the Reverend Greene Fretwell, a former slave, died in 1886, no African-American cemetery existed in northeast Tarrant County. With donations collected by his widow Frances, the trustees of Trinity Chapel Methodist Church bought two acres in 1889 for a church and burial ground. Ministers held worship services under a brush arbor until trustees built a frame church on the site. By the 1920s, burials began on adjacent land, then known as New Trinity Cemetery. Additional property acquired in 1931 was designated the People's Burial Park. Today the three sites are commonly called New Trinity Cemetery.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial: Reverend Greene Fretwell, 1886. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1985.

OAKWOOD CEMETERY, Grand Avenue and Gould Street, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 62U - From I-30, exit at University Drive. Proceed north on University until it turns into Northside Drive at the 199 intersection. Grand Avenue will be the second street beyond 199. Turn right onto Grand Avenue. Oakwood Cemetery will be on the right side of the street.

HISTORY - Oakwood Cemetery was begun in 1879 on 20 acres of land donated by John Peter Smith, an early Fort Worth philanthropist and one of the area's first settlers. It has since enlarged to 100 acres. Oakwood contains three distinct cemeteries: City Cemetery, Fort Worth's public cemetery; Calvary Cemetery, created specifically for the burial of Catholics; and Old Trinity Cemetery, a burial site for African-Americans.

Lodges, unions, Catholics, Protestants, and African-American organizations own plots in Oakwood. Union and Confederate soldiers have dedicated tracts, and the Knights of Columbus have erected a monument to the "victims of abortion."

The Oakwood and Calvary Associations provide perpetual care.

NOTABLE BURIALS - John Peter Smith, mayor and philanthropist. Major Horace S. Carswell, Fort Worth native and Medal of Honor recipient. Major Khebler Miller Van Zandt, Fort Worth banker, rancher, and legislator. Samuel Burk Burnett, West Texas rancher. Charles A. Culberson, former Texas Governor, U.S. Senate Minority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. General Thomas N. Waul, Confederate General and signer of the Confederate Constitution. William "Gooseneck Bill" McDonald, leader of the "Black and Tan" faction of the Texas Republican Party. Euday Louis Bowman, ragtime composer of the "12th Street Rag." U.S. Marshal Jim "Longhaired" Courtright and Luke Short, participants in a shootout in Hell's Half Acre, a section of bars and brothels once located in downtown Fort Worth.

NOTABLE DATES - Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1966. Application made to register Oakwood as a National Landmark, 1994.

PARKER CEMETERY / I.D. PARKER PUBLIC CEMETERY, 1300 Cardinal Road, Hurst

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 52X - From IH-820E, take the Highway 10 exit. Proceed east on Highway 10 to Cardinal Drive. Turn north on Cardinal Drive - after a sharp curve, the Parker Cemetery and I.D. Parker Public Cemetery and Homestead are on the south side of the street.

HISTORY - Land for the Parker Cemetery was donated by Isaac Duke Parker (1821 - 1902), the son of Isaac Parker (1793 - 1883), the pioneer politician for whom Parker County was named. Both Parker men served in the Texas legislature. Isaac Duke Parker served as a Tarrant County Commissioner before enlisting in the Confederate Army. He assumed operation and ownership of the Parker homestead in 1867. Shortly before his death, he donated the land for the cemetery property and designated the eastern half as a public burial ground.

Isaac Parker was the uncle of Cynthia Ann Parker, a white child captured by Comanche Indians and raised as their own. She married Comanche Peta Nocona. Their son, Quanah Parker, was the last great Comanche war chief.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial: unknown, research continues. Registered as a Texas Historic landmark; I.D. Parker public Cemetery and Homestead, 1983; Parker Family Cemetery, 1968.

PARKER MEMORIAL CEMETERY, FM 157 and Hall-Johnson Road, Grapevine

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 41F - From FM 157, exit Hall-Johnson Road. The Parker Memorial Cemetery is located on the southbound access road of FM 157, south of Hall-Johnson Road.

HISTORY - Isaac Green Parker (1816 - 1875) originally owned the 4.31 acres this cemetery occupies. After his death, his widow Mary (1820 - 1897), deeded it as a public burial ground. A tabernacle, erected in 1928, was first used for funerals and later for meetings of the cemetery association. Formerly known as Clements Cemetery, it was renamed Parker Cemetery in 1937. Many members of the Pleasant Glade Community lie in Parker Cemetery.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial: Christina Driskill, 1875. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1979.

PIONEERS REST CEMETERY, 626 Samuels Avenue, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 63S - From I-35W, take the Northside Drive exit. Proceed west on Northside Drive to the Samuels Avenue intersection. Turn south on Samuels Avenue - Pioneers Rest is on the east side of the street.

HISTORY - Pioneers Rest Cemetery sits on a three-acre tract donated by Dr. Adolphus Gouhenant, a friend of Major Ripley Arnold. Baldwin Samuels donated three adjoining acres in 1871. Many early Fort Worth settlers are buried at Pioneer's Rest, giving the cemetery its name.

NOTABLE BURIALS - Major Ripley A. Arnold (1817 - 1853), commander of the troops at Fort Worth. General Edward H. Tarrant (1796 - 1858), veteran of the War of 1812, Texas War for Independence, and negotiator of the Treaty of Bird's Fort. Tarrant County was named for General Tarrant.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burials: Sophie and Willis Arnold, children of Major Ripley Arnold, 1850. Pioneer's Rest Cemetery Association formed, 1871. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1979.

RILEY CEMETERY, 2700 Brown Trail, Bedford

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 53C - From Highway 183 (Airport Freeway), take the Brown Trail exit. Turn north on Brown Trail and proceed to the 2700 block. Riley Cemetery is on the west side of the street.

HISTORY - Jonathan Riley brought his family to northeast Tarrant County from Kentucky around 1856. He received his land grant in 1863. Legend says that this burial ground began when a thief was killed nearby and Riley gave permission for his burial on the site. Riley's family and neighbors began using the site, and in 1883 Thomas Riley and William Autry formally set aside the tract as a burial ground. Burials stopped at the site before 1897, except for Riley's daughter Martha Susan Autry, whose burial took place in 1937. No markers remain in the cemetery, but some grave outlines can be seen.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial: unknown, research continues. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1979.

ROSE HILL CEMETERY, Lancaster Avenue at Sandy Lane, Fort Worth

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 80L - From IH-820E, take the Lancaster Avenue exit. Proceed east on Lancaster Avenue to the Sandy lane intersection. Rose Hill Cemetery will be on the north side of the street with the entrance gate located on the northwest corner of the intersection.

HISTORY - Rose Hill Cemetery, established in 1929 as a commercial cemetery, encompasses 100 acres. The cemetery was recently purchased by a large corporation, but for many years it was owned and administered by the Shannon family.

Rose Hill Cemetery is not a Texas Historic landmark.

NOTABLE BURIALS - Edna Gladney, founder of the Edna Gladney Home and subject of the movie "Blossoms in the Dust." Major James Madison Handley (1836 - 1906), Civil War veteran and founder of the town of Handley. Several graves of gypsies, located in the southeastern section of the cemetery. Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy.

SMITH-FRAZIER CEMETERY, Ash and Park Streets, Azle

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 29M - From State Highway 199, take the Stewart Street exit. Proceed east on Stewart Street and take the Park Street fork. Continue on Park Street to Ash Street. Turn north on Ash Street - Smith-Frazier Cemetery is on the east side of the street.

HISTORY - Fort Worth businessman and philanthropist J.J. Jarvis purchased land and built a homestead in Azle in the early 1880s. He deeded part of his homestead to Charles Young and Allen Prince in 1886 for use as an African-American cemetery. Several graves existed on the site when the land was conveyed. The land later passed down to descendants of the pioneer Smith and Frazier families, and the site was named in their honor. It contains about 25 marked graves, but others lie unmarked.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial: unknown, research continues. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1983.

P.A. WATSON CEMETERY, 1024 N. Watson Road, Arlington

DIRECTIONS - Mapsco Grid - 70X - From State Highway 360, take the Lamar Street exit. Watson Cemetery is located on the southeast corner of Lamar Street and Watson Road (360 access road).

HISTORY - When Patrick Alfred Watson (1810 - 1894) bought land in 1853, he set aside a one acre cemetery. A burial already existed on the site. In 1870, Watson donated additional land to construct a community church and school. In 1956, the D/FW turnpike was routed around the cemetery and the church was relocated.

NOTABLE DATES - Earliest known burial: Mrs. Micajah Goodwin, died 1846. Registered as a Texas Historic Landmark, 1976.
 

APPENDIX

OTHER TARRANT COUNTY CEMETERIES

ALLEN CEMETERY - The Alexander Allen Family Cemetery lies on undedicated private land on the Alexander Allen Survey in Bedford. The plot sits in a vacant lot in the Timberview Estates development, at the southeast intersection of McLean Drive and Harwood Road. It contains about a dozen burials. Earliest known burial is that of Emily E. Crews (1852 - 1857), daughter of Robert and Rachel Crews, who are buried in Grapevine Cemetery. Mapsco grid - 54A.

WILLIAM VALENTINE SEVERE ALLEN FAMILY CEMETERY - This cemetery is located about one mile west of Interstate 35W on the J.M. Goodwin Survey #611. To locate it, travel north on I-35W to the Golden Triangle-Keller Road exit. Continue north on the frontage road for 1-1/2 miles to reach Keller-Hicks Road. Turn left (west) under the highway and go about 1/2 mile to where the road makes an abrupt turn left. The cemetery tabernacle can be seen south of the road. The cemetery is fenced and measures 65'x100'. Mapsco grid - 21E.

BALL STREET CEMETERY - Local folklore has it that a small cemetery was located on the west side of Ball Street about 1/4 mile south of College Street in Grapevine. It apparently contained five or six graves, but the headstones were removed or destroyed by the 1920s.

BIRD'S FORT CEMETERY - Bird's Fort was located 1/2 mile south of the south end of S. Main Street in Euless. The cemetery, the oldest burial site for Anglos in Tarrant County, was located 250 - 300 yards northeast of the site of the fort. The first burial was Hamp Ratton in 1841. Other possible burials include Henry Long's brother (name not known), David Clubb, Thomas Terrey, and Col. Rush B. Wallace. The burial site has been obliterated by sand and gravel operations and is completely inaccessible. A Bird's Fort historic marker is located on the east side of FM157, one mile north of the Trinity River in east Fort Worth.

PENDLETON CHEEK CEMETERY - Located on the Robert Cross Survey, near or in the Page Company's East Side Addition. Tarrant County Deed Records, Book 33, page 603, filed August 2, 1884, records that T.F. Cheek and Julia A. Cornelius sold to A.A. Stephens and C.D.Y. Gulley a 210 acre tract "with the exception of the Pendleton Cheek family graveyard, containing 100 ft. square, on which is an oak grove land now in cultivation."

COMO CEMETERY - A large, poorly kept, historically African-American cemetery located at Farnsworth and Halloran streets in the Como area of Fort Worth. It is still in use. Mapsco grid - 74V.

COPE CEMETERY - This cemetery, located east of Mansfield at the end of Day-Miar Road, has not been surveyed. The undergrowth is too dense to determine exactly what markers lie there. The earliest known burial is that of Nick Wisrock, buried in 1870. Mapsco grid - 126K.

CORN CEMETERY - This plot is on private property located west of Lake Benbrook, about 1/2 mile north of Ben Day-Murrin Road. The cemetery was surveyed by the DAR in 1958, but has since become overgrown with briars and cactus.

COWAN-WHITEHEAD CEMETERY - This African-American cemetery is located in Kennedale, northeast of Emerald Hills Cemetery and 1/2 mile off of Little School Road. The Earliest known burial was in 1861. Mapsco grid - 108B.

CROWLEY SURVEY BURIAL SITE - A burial site of undetermined size is located on the east side of Minter's Chapel Road, about 1/2 mile north of Bear Creek. The site, now on D/FW Airport property, is inaccessible. A previous owner reported seeing fragments of marble gravestones, but all traces of the plot have disappeared.

CURRY CEMETERY - This plot was located on Day-Miar Road in Mansfield, approximately 400 yards west of the site of the old Gertie School. There are about 17 unmarked graves, but all the markers were removed and the sites were plowed over. Mapsco grid -125K.

DAVENPORT FAMILY CEMETERY - This cemetery was located on Carroll Avenue in Southlake. It contained the graves of four adults and one child. When Carroll Avenue was widened in 1936, the headstones were destroyed and the graves were covered. The County Field Survey map shows four graves labelled "Old Pioneer Cemetery" at the site.

EBENEZER (HANDLEY HILL COLORED) CEMETERY - On the west side of the Lake Arlington Dam lies an old African-American Cemetery. It contains about 600 graves, but only 100 have markers of any sort. This cemetery, sponsored by the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, is located behind the barrier blocking the dam to public access. Mapsco grid - 80N.

ESTES CEMETERY - This cemetery, located east of Mansfield in the old Webb Community, contains approximately 155 identifiable graves and four illegible markers. The earliest known burial is that of Mary A. Estes, 1855 - 1857.

FOSSIL METHODIST CHURCH CEMETERY - This cemetery is located in the 4100 block of North Sylvania Avenue, Fort Worth. The cemetery beside the church contains between 20 and 30 graves. The headstones of the Baker and Yauger families remained into the 1960s. After the church disbanded in 1898, the church building was removed and the cemetery neglected. The cemetery is now completely obliterated.

GANDY CEMETERY - According to local tradition, the Gandy Cemetery was located on the grounds of the old Leonard home. Alexander Smith, the contractor who built the fence around East Oakwood Cemetery, was buried there in 1884. He arrived on the first train into Fort Worth on July 19, 1879.

GILLILAND CEMETERY - This cemetery is located on high ground along Rock Creek on the right side of Crowley Plover Road (FM 1037). Current estimates are of 20 graves, but only a few broken stones remain.

GOFORTH CEMETERY - This cemetery is located on the Mahalda Bonner Survey #169, south of Highway 377. Four graves belonging to the Goforth family are there. Mapsco grid - 99S.

GRAND PRAIRIE (UNNAMED) CEMETERY - An unidentified cemetery, located in Grand Prairie on Berkshire Drive, is being preserved by a development company.

GREGORY FAMILY CEMETERY - This family graveyard was located about 1/10 of a mile south of Wall-Price Road, about 300 feet west of Highway 377. It was moved to Bourland Cemetery in 1984.

GRIMSLEY (GRIMSLEY-DALTON) CEMETERY - This plot, located north of Mansfield on Debbie Lane, contains 41 legible markers and five illegible markers. The earliest grave is that of Jos. Grimsley, 1870 - 1880. Mapsco grid - 123G.

HARDING CEMETERY - Local tradition says the Harding Cemetery is located off of Wichita Street in Forest Hill. It has not been located.

HARMON (DOZIER) CEMETERY - This graveyard is located 200 yards west of Boat Club Road, on private property. Twenty-nine graves have rock stone markers, and 21 graves have legible markers. Earliest burial is that of Abigail Harmon, 1806 - 1865. The last burial was in 1922.

HARPER FAMILY CEMETERY - This plot is located in Haltom City, at 1800 Layton Avenue. Thirteen graves contain three Harper adults and several children. The fenced cemetery has a sign saying "Harper's Rest." Mapsco grid - 64K.

HARRINGTON FAMILY CEMETERY - Two graves, located near the intersection of Cheek-Sparger Road and Woodpark Lane, contain the burial of Susannah Harrington and her grandson William. The markers were removed in the 1920s. Mapsco grid - 41S.

HAWKINS CEMETERY - This cemetery is located at the intersection of Hawkins Cemetery Road and the northbound access road of Highway 287. An association keeps the cemetery in excellent condition. Mapsco grid - 94U.

HENDERSON CEMETERY - This plot, located on the old Henderson estate (south of Wilbarger and the Poly Freeway in Fort Worth), contains nine marked tombstones and eight other graves marked with rods. This cemetery includes the grave of a slave. The earliest marked grave is that of Fannie Evans, 1817 - 1867. Mapsco grid - 92C.

HITCH CEMETERY - This cemetery contains 18 marked graves and thirteen fieldstones marking the graves of Hitch slaves. It is located 1/4 mile south of Highway 183, just east of the former Great Southwest International Airport. The oldest marked grave is that of Haden T. Hitch, 1846 - 1858.

HODKINS CEMETERY - Little is known about this cemetery, allegedly located somewhere in Lake Worth Village. It may have been moved to make way for development.

HOLLIS CEMETERY - This graveyard, located at the corner of Dora Drive and Country Club Road in Pantego, once contained about 50 marked graves. Only a few sandstone markers remain. The cemetery is named for J.D. Hollis, who is buried here with his wife. Mapsco grid - 89U.

HOWARD FAMILY GRAVEYARD - This family plot, once located on the C.C. Edwards Ranch, was moved to Benbrook Cemetery to make room for development. Out of 22 stones, only four remained to be moved.

HUDSON CEMETERY - This cemetery contains several hundred burials and is maintained by an active association. It is located two miles south of Kennedale on Hudson-Village Creek Road. Mapsco grid - 108T.

HUDSON FAMILY CEMETERY PLOT - This family plot, located 1/4 mile south of Hargrove Road and 1/4 mile east of N. Hurst Road, is enclosed by an iron fence with a concrete base. One stone heads two graves. Mapsco grid - 119T.

INDIAN BURIAL SITE - In 1901, an Native American burial site was found on the property of D. Conner Williams, located at the corner of Lexington and Bluff Streets in Fort Worth. Three skeletons were found, along with arrow points, a package of vermillion, a stone pipe, a 16-inch knife blade, a quantity of small white beads, and a mirror set in an iron frame.

ISHAM (ISHAMS'S CHAPEL) CEMETERY - This cemetery, sometimes referred to as White's Cemetery, is located at 7100 John T. White Road in east Fort Worth. It was named for the Reverend Marion Isham, who established a Methodist Church north of the Trinity River in that community. It contains several hundred graves. An active association maintains the grounds. The earliest marked burial is that of N.L. Sweet (1824 - 1870). Mapsco grid - 66U.

JACKSON CEMETERY - Located at 8900 Chapin Road in west Fort Worth, this cemetery once served the Mary's Creek Community. The Jackson family descendants have retained all rights to the cemetery. The earliest marked grave is that of Isabella S. Dunlap (1817 - 1867). Some graves are under a nearby church parking lot. Mapsco grid - 73T.

JEFFERSON CEMETERY - This burial plot is located on Indian Creek near the south end of the old Eagle Mountain Lake National Guard Base. There are five Jefferson graves and many broken markers.

A.D. JOHNSON FAMILY PLOT - The graves of A.D. Johnson and his wife Elizabeth were once located on the Johnson farm near the north end of Samuels Avenue. The graves were relocated to Pioneers' Rest Cemetery.

JOHNSON STATION CEMETERY - Located at 3600 S. Cooper in Arlington. Some graves date from 1863. The cemetery, while maintained by an active association, has suffered a great deal of vandalism. Mapsco grid - 96G.

JOPLING CEMETERY - This cemetery is located in a field about two blocks south of the Swiney - Hiett Road, about one mile east of the Mansfield Cardinal Road in Kennedale. A heavily overgrown family plot of about four graves stands in a fenced area under post oak trees. It contains many sandstone markers. According to local tradition, some traildrivers killed nearby were also buried here. Mapsco grid - 108G.

OLD KENNEDALE CEMETERY - This cemetery is now part of the Emerald Hills Memorial Park, a large commercial cemetery that took it over in 1955. Mapsco grid - 108A.

KEYES CEMETERY - This cemetery, located in a densely wooded spot south of 1187, sits one mile from Highway 377. A steel cable runs about 20 square feet enclosing the stones. It contains one inscribed marker and several sandstone markers. Mapsco grid - 99U.

LAWRENCE CEMETERY - Located on the south side of Timberline Road in rural northwest Tarrant County, this burial plot contains an elegant tombstone for Beverage Lawrence (1836 - 1876). Several unmarked stones are scattered nearby. Mapsco grid - 15K.

LIPSCOMB CEMETERY - County authorities removed this cemetery in 1969 to make way for construction of the D/FW International Airport. The DAR listed 30 graves in a 1958 survey. Eight members of the Estill family were reinterred in Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park, Colleyville. Others were removed to Grapevine Cemetery, but some graves were not removed. Other families buried in Lipscomb Cemetery included Chapman, Emery, Lipscomb, and Wiggins.

MANSFIELD CEMETERY - Located in FM 917 at the southwest end of the Mansfield City Limits, this cemetery adjoins Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The Mansfield Cemetery Association administers and maintains the grounds. The cemetery includes a plot known as the Mansfield Colored Cemetery. Mapsco grid - 124W.

MARTIN SURVEY CEMETERY SITE - This cemetery is located near the corner of Martin Drive and Precinct Line Road in Hurst. All of the fieldstone markers were shattered prior to 1940. The size of the cemetery and the number of burials is not known. The site is now in the midst of urban development. Mapsco grid - 38V.

MASON CEMETERY - This cemetery is located between Woodbrook Street and Market Place Drive, one block east of Collins Street, Arlington. It was founded in 1928 by the Masons for the burial of Masons and their family members. Reinterrments of persons deceased prior to 1928 have occurred. There are over 400 graves. Mapsco grid - 83B.

MCKEE MAUSOLEUM - This crypt is located between Meacham Airport and the Sinclair Oil Refinery, near Old Decatur Road. In 1882, Wm. McKee died and was buried in the private crypt on his farm north of Fort Worth. In 1895, his widow was buried beside him. The site was not legally set aside until 1930, when Fort Worth historian Mary Daggett Lake received a Quit Claim Deed to preserve it. In about 1940, the remains of the McKees were reinterred at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Mapsco grid - 47U.

MEDLIN CEMETERY - Reportedly located on the Hunt Ranch between Westlake and Highway 377, this cemetery contained five to seven graves of the Gibson family. All engraved sandstones have broken.

MELTON GRAVE SITE - A tombstone enscribed "C. Melton, 1877," once located on the Bedford Boy's Ranch property, was removed to make was for an apartment complex now on the site. Local rumors state that some graves were moved from the ranch to Bedford Cemetery.

MILLER CEMETERY - This cemetery is located north of Mary's Creek and south of Highway 80 in extreme western Tarrant County. The cemetery was laid out and dedicated in 1917 after J.C. Miller, who came to Mary's Creek in 1879, lost his first wife. Nine graves lie in a fenced plot measuring 36' x 65'. The earliest grave is that of D.W. Miller (1867 - 1902). Mapsco grid - 70P.

MISTLETOE HEIGHTS CEMETERY - A Tarrant County Historical Commission member found reference to this cemetery in an early Fort Worth phone directory. It was probably never developed. No other information has come to light.

MOSIER VALLEY CEMETERY - This cemetery is located in the southern part of the Mosier Valley community, an African-American settlement dating back to the 1870s. The cemetery was developed on land donated by the Lee family, a white family buried there. The cemetery lane is east of House Anderson Road in far east Fort Worth. Mapsco grid - 54Y.

NOAH CEMETERY - Located on the 800 block of McKinney Street in Arlington, this cemetery contains about 50 marked graves. They include members of the Ford family, one of whom was the earliest burial in 1870. Mapsco grid - 82G.

NORTH EXCHANGE PAUPERS GRAVES - When a north Fort Worth Historic Resources survey was being done in 1976, information came to light concerning a burial plot on North Exchange Avenue. Paupers were buried without identification and without funerals.

PAYNE FAMILY CEMETERY - Two graves, believed to be the grandchildren of Thomas J. Nash and the children of Apalonia Nash Payne, are located under the trees in the 800 block of College Street, Grapevine. A single marble column containing inscriptions, marks the graves. Mapsco grid - 27L.

PERRY CEMETERY - Eight to ten graves lie about five miles east of Mansfield on the northeast corner of Ragland Extension and Ragland Road. The stones have been removed. The earliest known burial is that of Sarah Jane Gibson Perry (1828 - 1855). Her stone has been recovered and is now surrounded by a chain link fence. Mapsco grid - 125E.

POLYTECHNIC CEMETERY - This cemetery is located on Avenue C near the Vickery Boulevard and Bishop Street intersection, one block east of the Texas Wesleyan University campus. Burials in the plot date from the turn of the century. A warranty deed refers to the property as the "Masonic Home Cemetery," leading the belief that the Masonic Home developed a section here for the burial of their deceased children. The Paul Harris estate pays TWU $500.00 per year to maintain the cemetery. Mapsco grid - 78L.

PUGH CEMETERY - This cemetery, located on a hill west of Lake Worth near Silver Creek Road, is very difficult to locate. It contains members of the Pugh and Selvidge families, but many fieldstones are shattered and illegible.

 
RAY-MANSHIP CEMETERY - Now destroyed by commercial development, this cemetery was located on the crest of a hill about 1/8 of a mile northwest of John T. White Road and Loop 820. The earliest known burial was that of Sarah Clark in 1883, one of six grave sites reinterred in Rose Hill Cemetery in 1984. An official Texas Historic marker, although acquired for the site, has not been erected by the developer. Mapsco grid - 66S.

REDFORD PLACE CEMETERY - This cemetery is located immediately west of the Rowland and Judd Street intersection in White Settlement. The first of three total burials was Gabrias Terry, who died of smallpox at that site in 1882, followed shortly by the death of Thomas Hagood. The third burial was that of Theo Petty. The fieldstones marking their graves are gone. Mapsco grid - 59W.

REHOBOTH CEMETERY - This cemetery is located north of Mansfield behind Rehoboth Church on the west side of Highway 157. The earliest legible gravestone is that of "Mary - dau. of W.P. & S.M. Miller, Aug. 12, 1869 - Aug. 9, 1871." The cemetery contains 523 marked graves and 80 illegible grave markers.

RENDON CEMETERY - This cemetery is located at the crossroads of Highway 1187 and Rendon-Forest Hill Drive, five miles east of I-35W. In 1981, the cemetery contained 435 marked graves and 45 unidentified graves. It is still in use. Mapsco grid - 121K.

RODGERS CEMETERY - Located at the end of Shady Oak Drive and west of Little Road in Kennedale, this cemetery sits on land settled by Thomas Rodgers in 1856. It contains about 50 graves, most of them Rodgers descendants. A chain link fence surrounds the cemetery. Mapsco grid - 108B.

SOUTHSIDE CEMETERY - The only information available on this cemetery comes from the 1919 Fort Worth city directory, which lists the Southside Cemetery on Sycamore Creek near Glen Garden Country Club. Its offices were in the Reynolds Building.

STEPHENS' FAMILY CEMETERY - This small family plot is located east of Mansfield, south of Broad Street on the right side of Mitchell-Mansfield Road. One legible grave marker identifies the graves of three Stephens children. The earliest burial was Tennessee Stephens, died 1866. Mapsco grid - 124R.

SWEET'S CHAPEL CEMETERY - This burial ground is located on the Rufus King Survey, on Old Denton Road one mile north of the Keller-Haslet Road intersection. The land was donated by Thomas Andrew Sweet (1830 - 1895). The cemetery contains approximately 110 graves. The earliest marked grave is that of Eliny Raibourn (1811 - 1856). Mapsco grid - 8J.

TARRANT COUNTY POOR FARM CEMETERY - Located on Kimbo Road north of 28th Street, on the site of the county's poor farm, this cemetery contains the graves of many paupers. When the county sold the land in the 1950s, the unmarked graves were supposed to have been moved to Mount Olivet Cemetery. In 1967, authorities discovered that several unmarked graves remained, and they were moved during construction. No record of names or dates has been found. Mapsco grid - 63D.

TATE (TATE SPRINGS) CEMETERY - This cemetery is located at 4200 Pleasant Ridge Road, Arlington. The first known burial was that of E.C. Tate (1832 - 1885), whose son R.M. Tate donated the one-acre plot to the community in 1894. The cemetery contains about 75 graves. Mapsco grid - 95K.

THOMPSON FAMILY CEMETERY - Located in the 6500 block of White Settlement Road, this cemetery contains thirteen recorded graves. The earliest is that of Capt. Henry J. Thompson (1832 - 1883). Mapsco grid - 60Y.

THOMPSON PUBLIC CEMETERY - This cemetery is located between Highway 183 and the railroad tracks just south of White Settlement Road. The fenced plot measures about 175' x 200'. It contains 94 identifiable graves and about 75 identifiable headstones. Mapsco grid - 60Y.

TUCKER CEMETERY - Tombstones for this fairly large cemetery were destroyed to make way for an oat field. Its location was 250 yards south of Hargrove Lane, west of Village Creek, west of White Oak Lane, just north of Burleson. The oldest known burial was that of Urania Tucker, wife of James M. Tucker (1813 - 1872).

WALNUT CREEK CEMETERY - Located on Highway 1187 west of I-35, about six miles west of Mansfield, this cemetery contains 34 identifiable markers and 11 unidentifiable graves. The oldest legible marker is that of M.A. Hopper, wife of S.W. Hopper (1847 - 1881). Mapsco grid - 120K.

WILLBURN CEMETERY - This cemetery is located behind a stockade fence on the west side of the 3700 block of Streamwood Lane. The oldest grave is that of a Willburn infant who died in 1867. The cemetery contains descendants, relatives, and neighbors of Edward Willburn, who came to Tarrant County in 1854 and established large landholdings in southwestern Tarrant County. There are approximately 14 graves. Mapsco - 88A.

WYATT'S CHAPEL CEMETERY - This cemetery, located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Highways 157 and 287, at one time contained about 200 graves. The tombstones were dragged away about 40 years ago. It was adjacent to Wyatt's Chapel School, which closed in 1912. The earliest known grave is that of Margeurite Shafrer Maserang (1839 - 1882). Two legible grave markers survive. One lists the Maserang family "and others." Mapsco grid - 124A.

YOUNG FAMILY CEMETERY - No information is available concerning this cemetery, which was believed to be located at the site of a convalescent center that sits one mile northwest of Lake Worth on Highway 199.

This page was last modified 7 July 2009.

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