DUANE
Duane's take
The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of Cedar Creek Cemetery. Now, out here in Fayette County, the land remembers things that the living have long since moved on from. And this particular piece of ground holds a community inside it — not just the memory of one, but just about everything that's left of it.
Around 1875, this burial ground was established to serve the African-American community of Cedar Creek. The roots go back just a little further — to 1874, when the African Methodist Episcopalian Church organized in the area. That congregation received this property from the estate of N.W.
Faison. With that land in hand, the members did what determined people do: they erected a church building, and they laid out the cemetery behind it. The earliest known burial belongs to a man named Christerfer Myres, dating to 1877.
His is the first name this ground holds on record. Now, here's where the story gets quietly extraordinary. The markers standing in that cemetery aren't your standard cut stone and chiseled dates.
One grave marker was shaped into a concrete ball. Another was made of petrified wood — wood that time itself turned to stone. Several were crafted partially from sea shells, which, if you stop and think about it, is a long way from any ocean.
And there's an obelisk out there too, rising up among the others like a small monument to something larger than any single life. For more than fifty years, the church served that community. And then, as communities sometimes do, it faded.
The church is gone now. But the cemetery remains. Today, Cedar Creek Cemetery is all that remains of the historic Cedar Creek Community.
The people who built that church, who shaped those markers from concrete and petrified wood and shells pulled from who knows where — they made sure something would last. And it did.
What the marker says
This burial ground was established around 1875 to serve the African-American community of Cedar Creek. The African Methodist Episcopalian Church, which organized in 1874, received this property from the estate of N.W. Faison. Members erected a church building and laid out the cemetery behind it. The earliest known burial is of Christerfer Myres, dating to 1877. Unique grave markers include one shaped into a concrete ball, one made of petrified wood, several partially made from sea shells and an obelisk. The church served the area for more than 50 years. Today, Cedar Creek Cemetery is all that remains of the historic Cedar Creek Community. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2007