Blake Cemetery
May, Brown County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the late nineteenth century, the migration of people into Brown County grew and new communities developed, such as the Hog Valley Community. By 1894, Hog Valley Baptist Church was organized. Soon, a school was established and a building erected. Church services were held in the schoolhouse by the Baptist and Methodist congregations until permanent church homes were built. When a post office was created in Hog Valley, the postmaster, Wesley Ballard Jones, requested the name Blake for the post office in honor of his son. After some time, the Hog Valley Community became known as Blake. The first burial in the Blake Cemetery was that of Mary E. Griffin in 1901. Two years later, W.W. Dunn and his wife conveyed acreage to the Hog Valley Community under the school district to be used as a cemetery. In 1926, the school trustees deeded the cemetery land to the Blake Cemetery Association. Additional acreage was deeded in 1984 by Ann Garms. The Blake Cemetery has a variety of headstone and grave markers, including traditional marble and granite, bronze, wood and crosses made of steel tubing marking previously unmarked gravesites, a special project of the Cemetery Association. The cemetery contains the burials of many United States veterans, most marked with official military headstones. The Blake Cemetery Association continues to maintain the grounds so that future generations may learn about their ancestors and the development of this area of Brown County.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As settlers poured into Brown County in the late 1800s, the Hog Valley community formed and organized a Baptist church by 1894, holding services in the schoolhouse until permanent churches were built. When a post office opened, its postmaster asked that it be named Blake in honor of his son, and the whole community gradually took that name. The first burial in Blake Cemetery came in 1901, and the grounds—filled with everything from marble monuments to hand-welded steel crosses marking once-unmarked graves—still receive the care of a cemetery association determined to preserve local memory.
Why it matters
Blake Cemetery preserves the layered history of a frontier farming community—its churches, school, and veterans—and the ongoing effort of descendants to keep that heritage legible for future generations.
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Related people
- · Wesley Ballard Jones
- · Mary E. Griffin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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