Bowers Cemetery
Shamrock, Wheeler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Beginning in the 1920s, this cemetery has been a burial ground for the African American community of Shamrock. The oldest marked grave, for William Frank Holmon, dates from 1926. Also known as West Shamrock Cemetery, the site takes its name from the Bowers Addition to the city, owned and developed by David Laughlin Bowers. According to family tradition, Manse Lisles owned land on the west side of town and gave part to the black community for a cemetery. It was known to locals as Boot Hill. Many African Americans arrived in Shamrock with a construction company in 1926 to pave roads. They continued to work at the cotton mill, and had their own community with a gas station, café, school and church. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2012
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Since the 1920s, Bowers Cemetery has been the burial ground for Shamrock's African American community, its oldest marked grave dating to 1926. Also called West Shamrock Cemetery and known locally as Boot Hill, it took its name from a Black addition to the town developed by David Laughlin Bowers, with land reportedly given by Manse Lisles. Many of those buried here came to Shamrock with a road-paving crew in 1926 and stayed to build a full community—complete with its own gas station, café, school, and church.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the memory of a self-made Black community on the Panhandle plains, a neighborhood whose institutions have largely disappeared from the map.
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Related people
- · William Frank Holmon
- · David Laughlin Bowers
- · Manse Lisles
Themes & tags
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