Bethlehem Cemetery
Whitney, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1879, a group of farmers and businessmen established a new community, Baptist church and cemetery near the new town of Whitney. The Bethlehem community attracted nearby families who moved to be closer to the Houston & Texas Central Railway line. The first burial in the cemetery was Newt Williams, a recent transfer from Towash Baptist Church, in 1880. For generations, families from Whitney and the surrounding are chose the Bethlehem Cemetery as their burial site or had loved ones reinterred here. When the church closed after 1919, the land was donated to the cemetery. Since 1900, members of the Bethlehem Cemetery Association have maintained this chronicle of Hill County history. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2017
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1879 farmers and businessmen founded the Bethlehem community, church, and cemetery beside the new town of Whitney, drawing families who wanted to be near the Houston & Texas Central rail line. The first burial came in 1880, and for generations residents chose these grounds or reinterred loved ones here. When the church closed after 1919, its land passed to the cemetery, which a community association has tended ever since.
Why it matters
A railroad-era farming settlement survives chiefly in its graveyard, which serves as a running chronicle of Hill County's families long after the church that founded it was gone.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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