Terrace Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. In 1907, a young woman named Vera Westbrook died in Post City and was laid to rest in a grave near Two Draw Road. It wasn't much of a permanent arrangement, but it was what the moment required.

Then came 1908, and with it the death of Vertie Rogers Conn. Two losses now, and the second one moved people to act. The Board of Directors of the Double U Co. reached out to town founder C.

W. Post, who was up in Battle Creek, Michigan, and told him plainly: this town needs a cemetery. Now, you might expect a man of business to reply with acreage figures and surveyor's fees.

Instead, Post wrote something that's stuck around longer than most business correspondence tends to. He said, 'I wish there was no need for any such spot, but we have to conduct our affairs in accordance with the dictation of a power much superior to our own intelligence.' There's a humility in that sentence that's hard to argue with. Post provided the land, and he provided instructions for its layout.

Conn was the first burial on October 13th, 1908. And Vera Westbrook, who had been resting near Two Draw Road all that time, was reinterred here as well, brought into the fold of the place that was built, in part, because of the grief her passing had started. The original cemetery was platted in 1912 at 19.35 acres.

It has expanded since then to include several thousand burials, generation after generation of Garza County families finding their way here. That's what a cemetery becomes, if you give it enough time. Not just a spot, as Post called it, but a testament.

What the marker says

IN 1907, YOUNG VERA WESTBROOK DIED IN POST CITY AND WAS LAID TO REST IN A GRAVE NEAR TWO DRAW ROAD. IN 1908, WITH THE DEATH OF VERTIE ROGERS CONN, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE DOUBLE U CO. TOLD TOWN FOUNDER C. W. POST IN BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, ABOUT THE NEED FOR A CEMETERY. POST REPLIED "I WISH THERE WAS NO NEED FOR ANY SUCH SPOT, BUT WE HAVE TO CONDUCT OUR AFFAIRS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DICTATION OF A POWER MUCH SUPERIOR TO OUR OWN INTELLIGENCE." POST PROVIDED LAND FOR THE CEMETERY AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR ITS LAYOUT. CONN WAS THE FIRST BURIAL ON OCT. 13, 1908. WESTBROOK WAS ALSO REINTERRED HERE. THE ORIGINAL 19.35 ACRE CEMETERY PLATTED IN 1912 HAS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE SEVERAL THOUSAND BURIALS, SERVING AS A TESTAMENT TO GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES.