Criswell Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Out here in Falls County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding onto history since before most folks thought to write any of it down. Ten acres, that's all.

Ten acres that Marcus Thomas Durham deeded in 1886 for a school, a church, and a cemetery. Three purposes, one piece of land. But here's the thing about that cemetery, it didn't wait around for the paperwork.

By the time Durham signed that deed, the burial ground was already established. Already doing its quiet, permanent work. The two oldest marked graves both date to 1873.

One of them belongs to a man named C. M. Criswell, whose name the community itself would carry forward.

The other belongs to Thomas Durham, born in 1811, died in 1873, the father of the very man who would later deed that land. Think about that for a moment. Marcus Thomas Durham signed over ten acres in 1886, and somewhere in that ground already lay his father.

Now fast forward to 1950, and the community hadn't forgotten. An association was formed, they purchased the nearby school and church building, and they organized an annual homecoming to raise funds for maintaining both the structure and the cemetery. A homecoming.

Because some places earn that word. The Criswell Cemetery, the marker tells us plainly, remains a record of the history of this area of Falls County. Ten acres, two names reaching back to 1873, and a community that keeps showing up.

That's not nothing. That's everything.

What the marker says

Bearing the name of the community it once served, this site is part of ten acres deeded by Marcus Thomas Durham in 1886 for a school, church and cemetery. By that time it was already an established burial ground; the two oldest marked graves, both dating to 1873, are those of C. M. Criswell and Durham's father, Thomas Durham (1811-1873). In 1950 an association was formed that purchased the nearby school and church building and organized an annual homecoming to create a fund for maintaining the structure and the cemetery. The Criswell Cemetery remains a record of the history of this area of Falls County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2001