Eureka Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it reads. Out here in Navarro County, the land has a long memory. Settlement in this area began in the 1840s, back when Texas was still finding its footing as a state.

And the people who came out here, they didn't just build homes. They built community, and they built something meant to last. Two men, J.

F. and J. M. Floyd, were members of the local Richland Associate Reform Presbyterian Church, a congregation that organized in 1876.

Two years later, in 1878, those Floyd men donated land right here, set aside for church and graveyard purposes. That's the kind of act that shapes a place for generations. The first recorded burial came in 1885, and it's one that carries weight.

A little one, infant Nellie E. Sloan, was the first name written into the record of this ground. You sit with that a moment.

The cemetery grew from there, enlarged over the years, and by 1995 it covered about thirteen acres. Thirteen acres of Navarro County holding the stories of religious leaders, educators, business figures, elected officials, and veterans, men and women who served in conflicts ranging from the Civil War all the way to World War II. The whole sweep of American history, right here in the soil.

Today the Eureka Cemetery Association keeps it maintained, keeps the memory tended. This marker was placed as part of the Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood, 1845 to 1995, a reminder that the ground beneath your feet has been carrying these stories for a long, long time.

What the marker says

Settlement in this area began in the 1840s. J. F. and J. M. Floyd, members of the local Richland Associate Reform Presbyterian Church organized in 1876, donated land here in 1878 for church and graveyard purposes. The first recorded burial was that of infant Nellie E. Sloan in 1885. The cemetery has been enlarged over the years and in 1995 contained about 13 acres. Buried here are local religious, education, and business leaders, elected officials, and veterans of conflicts ranging from the Civil War to World War II. The cemetery is maintained by the Eureka Cemetery Association. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995