Rock Creek Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're rolling through Parker County now, and the land out here has got a way of holding onto its history quiet-like, right up until you know where to look. This stretch of country sits near what used to be the Fort Worth-Fort Belknap Military Road, and back in the 1870s, somebody had the good sense (or the good fortune) to plant a stagecoach stop right alongside it.

That road was carrying people and supplies and ambition through raw Texas country, and wherever a stage stopped regular, folks had a habit of deciding to stay. That's exactly what happened here. A community took root, and it came to be known as Rock Creek.

Then in 1884, the Rock Creek Baptist Church was founded on a site about two miles southeast of where we're talking about now. The congregation put down roots there, and they held on. And by the early 1900s, when the church had relocated to this spot, a cemetery was already in use on the grounds.

Now here's the part that'll settle into you if you let it. The earliest marked grave in Rock Creek Cemetery belongs to Bertie Ladd, born 1885, died 1896. Eleven years.

That's the oldest name they can still read. Surrounding that grave, and filling in the years that followed, are the burials of pioneer settlers, leaders of the church, leaders of the community; the people who built what you're driving through right now. Rock Creek Cemetery is still out here.

Still keeping watch. Still the quietest kind of record there is.

What the marker says

In the 1870s a stagecoach stop was established on the nearby Fort Worth-Fort Belknap Military Road. The stage line led to the area's early settlement, and the community that developed here became known as Rock Creek. In 1884 the Rock Creek Baptist Church was founded on a site about two miles southeast. By the early 1900s, when the congregation had relocated here, the Rock Creek Cemetery was in use. The earliest marked grave is that of Bertie Ladd (1885-96). Other burials include those of pioneer settlers and leaders of church and community. (1982)