Antioch Cemetery
Lovelady, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Originally called Neville's Prairie Cemetery, this graveyard was renamed Antioch Cemetery in 1890 when the Village of Neville's Prairie became known as Antioch after a post office was established. The community had disappeared by the 1930s. The earliest documented burial in the cemetery is that of David Houston (1801-1870). Included among the more than 1,000 graves are internments of slaves and pioneer settlers. Maintained by the Antioch Cemetery Association, this graveyard stands as a reminder of Houston County's early history. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Begun in the era of a vanished village first known as Neville's Prairie, this East Texas burial ground took the name Antioch in 1890 when a new post office rechristened the settlement. Its more than a thousand graves hold both enslaved people and pioneer settlers, a record in stone of a community that had faded away by the 1930s. The oldest documented burial dates to 1870.
Why it matters
Rural cemeteries like this one often outlast the towns they served, preserving the intertwined histories of settlers and the enslaved that shaped the antebellum and postwar South.
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Related people
- · David Houston
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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