HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Billington Cemetery

Prairie Hill, Limestone County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Tennessee native E. J. Billington settled in this area with his family in 1854. In 1890 he sold one-half acre of land to John Ellison and Gus Haney on which a church and cemetery were established. The first recorded burial was that of John Sanders in 1890. Named for Billington, the nearby town was once a thriving community with a school, post office, and several stores. In 1900 additional land was purchased from the Billington estate for the cemetery, which contains 115 marked graves and 12-15 unmarked graves. The Billington Cemetery continues to serve the area. (1997)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Tennessee native E. J. Billington settled here with his family in 1854 and in 1890 sold a half-acre for a church and cemetery, with John Sanders the first recorded burial that year. The nearby town named for him once bustled with a school, post office, and several stores. Additional land was added in 1900, and the cemetery — with more than a hundred marked graves — still serves the area even as the community around it has faded.

Why it matters

Billington Cemetery outlasts the town it was named for, standing as a quiet marker of the many small Texas communities that flourished briefly and then disappeared.

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Related people

  • · E. J. Billington

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionGhost TownsFrontier HistoryLandmark

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