Franklin North and South 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 Robertson County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding memory longer than the town nearby has even had a name. The Franklin North and South Cemetery.

And the first thing you need to know is this: the earliest marked stone standing in that cemetery dates to 1867. Franklin itself hadn't even been founded yet. Think on that for a moment.

The ground was already receiving the departed before the town showed up to claim the neighborhood. That stone was keeping vigil before there was a Franklin to be north or south of. This cemetery served as a final resting place for members of the area's African American community, and the graves there are not just names in the grass.

They include important early leaders, citizens, and veterans. People who built something, people who served something, people who mattered. Now, the land itself wasn't formally set aside by deed until 1908, and that deed made it official, gave it the standing it deserved on paper.

But the ground had already been doing its quiet work for decades by then. Years passed, as years will, and use of the cemetery declined. It happens.

Memory gets harder to tend. But in 1982, an association formed with the purpose of restoring and maintaining the site, and the cemetery has since been enlarged. Today it stands as an important reminder of African American history in Robertson County.

The town finally caught up to what that 1867 stone already knew. Some places earn their keep long before anybody gets around to writing it down.

What the marker says

The earliest marked stone here (1867) predates Franklin's founding. The site served as a final resting place for members of the area's African American community, and graves include those of important early leaders, citizens and veterans. A 1908 deed formally set aside the land. Use of the cemetery declined over the years, and an association formed in 1982 to restore and maintain the site, since enlarged. Today, Franklin North and South Cemetery is an important reminder of African American history in Robertson County. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003