Ash Creek Cemetery
Azle, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The oldest known graves in this community burial ground are those of Dave Morrison (1849-1874) and W. P. Gregg (1833-1874). Dr. James Azle Stewart, for whom Azle is named, and John Giles Reynolds, early grist mill operator, each donated an acre of land to establish the cemetery. Both Stewart and Reynolds are buried here. The Azle Cemetery Association was organized in 1922 to care for the site and to keep burial records. The Association bought additional land in 1932, 1947 and 1959 and constructed a tabernacle on the grounds. There are over 2,000 graves in Ash Creek Cemetery. (1985)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The oldest known graves in this Azle burial ground belong to Dave Morrison and W. P. Gregg, both of whom died in 1874. The land was given in two one-acre parcels by Dr. James Azle Stewart, for whom the town of Azle is named, and by John Giles Reynolds, an early grist mill operator, and both men are buried here. A cemetery association formed in 1922 to keep records and care for the grounds, later adding land and a tabernacle, and the cemetery now holds more than 2,000 graves.
Why it matters
This burial ground preserves the memory of Azle's founding families, including the very namesakes of the town, rooting a modern community in its pioneer past.
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Related people
- · James Azle Stewart
- · John Giles Reynolds
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Ash Creek Baptist Church
Azle, TX
On September 9, 1871, the Rev. J.C. Powers gathered 48 charter members to organize the Ash Creek Missionary Baptist Church on the still-dangerous Texas frontier, where he was said to preach with a gun beside his Bible while men kept rifles across their knees. A meeting house rose here in 1891, and in summers the congregation built brush arbors for prayer meetings on the grounds. The women famously set aside every egg laid on Sundays to fund Sunday school literature.
William M. Rice
Azle, TX
William M. Rice reached Texas in 1834 and served as an alcalde under Mexican rule before joining the Texas Revolution, where he was wounded at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Over a long life he farmed and traded across Texas and Kansas, and during the Civil War supported the home front by making soldiers' hats and hauling supplies. He spent his final years in Tarrant County, a living thread through Texas's founding and its wars.
James Azle Steward
Azle, TX
A Tennessee-born physician, James Azle Steward reached this part of North Texas before 1860 and became one of its most respected pioneers. When he donated land for a townsite in 1883, the settlement — which had gone by several names — took his middle name and became Azle. He also gave ground for Ash Creek Cemetery and the Azle Christian Church, weaving himself into the community's civic and spiritual life.
First Methodist Church of Azle
Azle, TX
The Rev. Will A. Stephens and fifteen charter members organized this Methodist congregation in 1895, buying a building from the United Brethren Church and securing a parsonage. The church called its first full-time minister in 1942, and membership more than doubled by 1946, prompting a new education building and a brick sanctuary. A 1968 denominational merger gave it the name First United Methodist Church.