Lovelady Evergreen Cemetery

Duane's take

The way the marker at Lovelady Evergreen Cemetery tells it, here's how I'm passing it along to you. Out in Houston County, where Lovelady was growing into a railroad center for the surrounding agricultural area, the community saw fit to set aside ground for its dead. That was back in the 1870s, and the section folks came to call the Old Cemetery got its start in earnest when land was conveyed to the trustees of the Lovelady Cemetery Association, first in 1878, and then again in 1896.

Now, when you want to know where a cemetery truly begins, you look for the first grave. That belongs to Parham Bridges Baker, born in 1876, and laid to rest there in 1878. Let that sit with you a moment.

Another soul joined him that same year, Catherine Adams, buried in 1878 as well. By 1885, roughly twenty graves occupied that ground. Twenty names, twenty stories, in a place that was still finding its own shape alongside a town finding its way as a railroad hub.

The Lovelady Evergreen Cemetery Association has kept on maintaining it right through to today, and the marker calls it a good example of an early community graveyard. That's not a small thing. Some places shout their history, and some places hold it quiet beneath the grass.

This one holds it quiet.

What the marker says

The community cemetery dates to the 1870s, when Lovelady was developing as a railroad center for the surrounding agricultural area. Land for the section known as Old Cemetery was conveyed to trustees of the Lovelady Cemetery Association in 1878 and in 1896. The first grave, that of Parham Bridges Baker (b. 1876) is dated 1878. Another early grave is that of Catherine Adams, who also was buried that year. By 1885 there were approximately 20 graves in the cemetery. A good example of an early community graveyard, it is maintained by the Lovelady Evergreen Cemetery Association. (1985) Historic Texas Cemetery medallion (added 2012)