Dry Creek Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, far as Duane can say. Now, out here in Kaufman County, there's a patch of ground that's been holding secrets since before the Civil War, and it goes by the name Dry Creek Cemetery. Named for a ravine running nearby, this burial ground first served a community called Turner's Point, a settlement planted right along the stage road running between Shreveport, Louisiana, and Dallas.

A man named Elisha Turner established that settlement in 1845, and for a stretch of years, this cemetery was where Turner's Point laid its people to rest. Then came the 1870s. The town picked itself up, all of it, and moved a mile and a half to the southeast, and when it landed in its new spot, it came away with a new name too: Poetry.

That's right. Poetry, Texas. The marker doesn't explain the name, and Duane's not gonna pretend it does, but you have to admit, as far as towns go, that's quite a thing to be called.

The cemetery, though, it stayed right where it was. The earliest marked grave belongs to Samuel Key, born in 1840, died in 1871. He's been keeping watch over this ground longer than anyone else whose name we can still read.

All told, there are 279 marked graves here, bearing the names of English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh pioneer settlers who made this corner of Texas their home. The cemetery is closed for burials now. The stage road that once ran past it is long gone quiet.

But those 279 names are still there, English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, carved in stone, holding the line against being forgotten.

What the marker says

Named for a nearby ravine, this burial ground originally served the community of Turner's Point. Located on the stage road between Shreveport, Louisiana, and Dallas, the settlement was established by Elisha Turner in 1845. In the 1870s the town was moved to a new location (1.5 miles southeast) and renamed Poetry. The earliest marked grave at this site is that of Samuel Key (1840-1871). Now closed for burials, the cemetery has 279 marked graves bearing names of the English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh pioneer settlers of the area.