West Mountain Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Upshur County, there's a patch of ground that holds more history than most folks realize when they first pull up to the gate. We're talkin' about West Mountain Cemetery, and its story starts long before the name on the sign was even a notion.

This land was part of a Republic of Texas land grant, and before that grant was ever written up, it was home to Caddo and Cherokee Indians. Layers, friend. This ground has layers.

Come the mid-1850s, a plantation owner by the name of Alpha Phillips established a cemetery here. The very first grave belongs to his father, William Phillips, and that grave is marked not with a carved stone or a polished monument, but with a stone cairn. Stacked rock, patient and plain, sitting out there as the oldest thing in the whole yard.

Now, a family cemetery has a way of growin' beyond the family. Word gets around, neighbors need a place, community folks from West Mountain start bringin' their own. Even transients, people just passin' through this part of Texas, found their final rest here.

The place that Alpha Phillips started for his kin became something much bigger than any one name. For decades it went by Old Phillips Cemetery, honoring the man who set the first stone. Then, in 1933, the name changed to West Mountain Cemetery, and that's what it's been called ever since.

By the 1920s, a volunteer association had already stepped up to tend the grounds, and over the years those members kept adding acreage, making sure there'd always be room. A Republic of Texas land grant, a stone cairn, a name that changed once and then held. Some places just keep growing into what they were always meant to be.

What the marker says

Part of a Republic of Texas land grant formerly occupied by Caddo and Cherokee Indians, this cemetery was established in the mid-1850s by plantation owner Alpha Phillips. The first grave, that of his father, William, is marked with a stone cairn. The family cemetery came to be used by neighbors, West Mountain community residents, and transients. A volunteer association was begun in the 1920s to maintain the grounds, and its members have added acreage to the graveyard over the years. Originally known as Old Phillips Cemetery, it has been called West Mountain Cemetery since 1933.