Old Salado Graveyard

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Old Salado Graveyard in Bell County. Now settle in, because some places carry weight before you even set foot on the ground, and this is one of them. You can feel it.

The old burial ground at Salado likely saw its first graves around the time a U.S. Post Office was established at Salado Springs, back in 1852. That's as far back as the record reaches, and even then, the word is "likely," which tells you the ground was already doing its quiet work before anyone thought to write it down.

Then in 1854, Colonel Elijah Sterling C. Robertson came into the picture. He purchased a large tract of land north and south of the springs, and that tract included the cemetery.

Now, it is generally accepted that the original two and a half acre graveyard was part of a hundred acres that Robertson had donated back in 1850 for the creation of Salado College and the town of Salado itself. So the graveyard and the college and the town, all of it, grew from the same donated ground. Over the years, additional land came in through both purchase and donation, a little here, a little there, the way a community slowly wraps its arms around the things it means to keep.

And to this day, a permanent endowment fund exists for the care and maintenance of this place, this resting place for generations of Salado's citizens. Some towns, when they want you to understand what they are, point you toward the courthouse or the college. Salado points you here too, and maybe that says more than anything else could.

What the marker says

This burial ground was likely in use about the time a U.S. Post Office was established in Salado Springs in 1852. In 1854 Col. Elijah Sterling C. Robertson purchased a large tract of land north and south o the springs that included the cemetery. It is generally accepted that the original 2.5 acre graveyard was part of 100 acres that he donated in 1850 for the creation of Salado College and the town of Salado. Additional land was acquired through purchase and donation over the years and a permanent endowment fund exists for the care and maintenance of this resting place for generations of Salado's citizens.