Alanreed Cemetery
Alanreed, Gray County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This public cemetery includes more than ten acres on a rise overlooking the community. The site became an important supply point with expansion of the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. On April 24, 1902, Robert Mangum moved the post office from Eldridge (4 mi. N), renaming it for railroad trustee Alan H. Reed (1851-1906) of Philadelphia. The oldest marked grave is for Nancy Louisa Baker (1841-1899). Most older burials are in the west section. Prominent features include family plot fences and curbing, and granite, marble and woodmen of the world grave markers. In 1918, the Alanreed Townsite Co. deeded the site as a community cemetery. With many veterans and prominent leaders buried here, it continues to be a beloved record of area heritage. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Spread over ten acres on a rise above town, Alanreed Cemetery grew alongside the community's rise as a supply point on the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. The town itself took shape in 1902 when the post office moved and was renamed for a Philadelphia railroad trustee, Alan H. Reed. The oldest marked grave dates to 1899, and family plot fences, Woodmen of the World markers, and the graves of veterans and local leaders record the area's heritage.
Why it matters
The cemetery mirrors how the railroad conjured Panhandle towns into being, and its weathered markers stand as a lasting archive of the pioneers who built and buried their dead along the line.
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Related people
- · Alan H. Reed
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Eldridge Post Office
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Established on March 20, 1886, Eldridge was the first post office in Gray County, sparing area ranchers a 20-mile ride to Mobeetie for their mail. First proposed under the name Elfin Grove, it stood near a blacksmith shop on McClellan Creek and shifted location more than once. About 1902 it moved south to the railroad, where Eldridge was reborn as the town of Alanreed.
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