Colored Graveyard in the Old Town of Hearne

The story

This cemetery, now represented by a single grave, was a burial site for African Americans residents of the area. According to folklore, it originated as a farm or slave cemetery. The earliest known burial here dated in 1879, and residents used the graveyard until 1912.

In 1947, developers purchased this property; descendants of the interred were forced to move and rebury relatives. However, the children of Hollie Tatnell (d. 1911), a former slave, refused to reinter their mother, forcing developers to build around her grave. Today, this single grave serves as a reminder of the area’s early African-American community and of the sanctity of burial grounds.

Historic Texas Cemetery - 2007