Walker Bend Community and Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane tells it right back to you. Out here on a bend of the Brazos River in Parker County, there's a place called Walker Bend, and the name belongs to one man: W.J. Walker, born 1821, died 1901, who came to this stretch of river country in the 1860s and put down roots deep enough that the land took his name.

By 1884, enough families had followed that they built themselves a school, the Walker Bend School, and that little schoolhouse served students all the way through 1925. Four decades of children learning their letters within earshot of the Brazos. Not bad for a bend in the river.

And near that school, there's a cemetery. Twenty-four recorded graves, pioneers and Walker family members resting together on that quiet bend. Now, the oldest recorded grave belongs to Thomas Walker, infant son of W.J.

Walker and his wife, known to everyone around as Aunt Jenny Walker. Thomas was laid to rest in 1878. Think on that a moment.

The man the whole community was named for (the settler, the patriarch) his oldest recorded grave belongs to a baby boy. That's the Brazos bottom for you. It gives and it takes, sometimes in the same breath.

The cemetery fell into neglect over the years, as cemeteries in forgotten corners sometimes do. But in 1993, the Abandoned Cemetery Association came out and restored it; brought it back to a shape worthy of the people in it. Some places earn their names.

Walker Bend earned its.

What the marker says

Located in Parker County on a bend in the Brazos River, the Walker Bend Community was named for W.J. Walker (1821-1901) who settled in this area in the 1860's. By 1884 settlers established the Walker Bend School that served students until 1925. The nearby cemetery contains 24 recorded graves including pioneers and Walker Family members. The oldest recorded grave is that of Thomas Walker, in 1878, infant son of W.J. Walker and his wife "Aunt Jenny" Walker. The cemetery, neglected for many years, was restored by the Abandoned Cemetery Association in 1993. (1996)