Old City Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best by the story. Way out in Burleson County, there's a piece of ground that's been set apart longer than almost anything else in these parts. Back in 1840, the same year the town of Caldwell was laid out, somebody looked at lots 3 and 12 and made a decision that would outlast every courthouse, every storefront, and most every name anybody ever carved into wood.

Those two lots were designated a Grave Yard and Church lot, and the word they used was forever. Not for a while. Not until something better came along.

Forever. That's a word you don't throw around lightly, and whoever put it in writing meant it to stick. Now, the man who founded the town, Lewis L.

Chiles, he's buried right there in that cemetery. Died in 1864. The town he laid out in 1840 was still standing, and his resting place was already waiting for him on those same lots.

But even before Chiles was gone, the ground had already begun its long work. The oldest legible stone in that cemetery belongs to Margarette A. King and her infant daughter, both lost in 1843.

Three years after the town was born. Some stones you read, and others read you. That one does the latter.

The cemetery is maintained by the city now, still honoring that word, forever, written down in 1840 and not yet broken.

What the marker says

Created in 1840 (same year Caldwell was laid out) when lots 3 and 12 were made a "Grave Yard and Church lot" forever. Town founder Lewis L. Chiles (d.1864) is buried here. Oldest legible stone is for Margarette A. King and infant daughter (d.1843). Now maintained by city. (1971)