Oakwood Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Oakwood Cemetery in Tarrant County. Now settle in, because this one's about a place that holds more Fort Worth history in its 100 acres than most cities see in a lifetime. John Peter Smith, one of Fort Worth's first settlers, a man who grew into a civic leader, a mayor, a philanthropist, he's the one who started all this.

Back in 1879, Smith founded the cemetery, and he didn't just give it a name. He gave it 20 acres of land, outright, to the city. Twenty acres.

That's not a gesture, that's a statement. The kind of statement that echoes down through generations. And echo it did, because that original 20 acres has since grown to 100.

What one man planted, an entire city kept tending. Now here's what makes Oakwood something more than just a cemetery: it's actually three cemeteries sharing that ground: Oakwood, Calvary, and Trinity. Three distinct places of rest, side by side.

The plots are owned by lodges, by unions, by Catholic congregations and Protestant ones, by Negro and White communities alike. And in those same grounds, you'll find tracts dedicated separately to Union soldiers and to Confederate soldiers, men who fought on opposite sides of the bloodiest war this country ever knew, now resting in the same earth under the same Texas sky. The Chapel went up in 1914, standing quiet watch over all of it.

Today, the Oakwood and Calvary associations, along with the city, share the work of keeping it. The marker calls the people buried here men and women of destiny, Fort Worth's and Tarrant County's both. One hundred acres of destiny, started by one man with 20 acres and a vision.

John Peter Smith gave Fort Worth a place to remember itself. Turned out, that was plenty.

What the marker says

Founded 1879 by John Peter Smith, one of Fort Worth's first settlers, who became a civic leader, mayor, philanthropist. He gave 20 acres to city; cemetery since enlarged to 100 acres. The area contains three cemeteries: Oakwood, Calvary, Trinity. Many Fort Worth and Tarrant County men and women of destiny are buried here. Plots are owned by lodges, unions, Catholic, Protestant, Negro, and White. Tracts are dedicated to Union and Confederate soldiers. The Chapel was built in 1914. Oakwood, Calvary associations, and city provide care. (1966)