Palo Pinto Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Way out in Palo Pinto County, there's a piece of ground that was old before the town around it had even found its name. The story begins in 1857, when a 320-acre tract of land was surveyed for the original Palo Pinto townsite.

Now here's the part worth savoring: when the planners sat down in 1858 to plat the town, they found a cemetery already waiting for them. Didn't move it, didn't argue with it. They laid out one block right around it, like the living just quietly made room for those who'd gotten there first.

In 1880, the citizens of Palo Pinto purchased the graveyard from the county, bringing it into the care of the town proper. The oldest legible grave marker belongs to George W. Slaughter, born May 6, 1843, and gone by June 15, 1860.

That stone has been standing through Texas summers and blue northers longer than most things in that county. The people resting beneath that ground are no small company. Area pioneers, military veterans, Texas Rangers, prominent Palo Pinto citizens.

The kind of gathering that, if they could sit up and swap stories, you'd pull your chair close and stay till morning. For a long time the cemetery endured on its own terms, but in 1974 the Palo Pinto Cemetery Association was organized to provide the place with proper maintenance. Some ground, it turns out, earns its tending.

What the marker says

This cemetery traces its history to 1857 when a 320-acre tract of land was surveyed for the original Palo Pinto townsite. The town was platted in 1858 and one block was laid around an existing cemetery. In 1880 Palo Pinto citizens purchased the graveyard from the county. The oldest legible grave marker is that of George W. Slaughter (May 6, 1843-June 15, 1860). Those interred here include area pioneers, military veterans, Texas Rangers, and prominent Palo Pinto citizens. The Palo Pinto Cemetery Association was organized in 1974 to provide maintenance for the cemetery. (1992)