Cedron Cemetery and School
Lakeside Village vicinity, Bosque County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Settlement of northeastern Bosque County began in the 1850s, as people traveling west through the area were attracted to the fertile lands along Cedron Creek. Among the first community projects of the new neighbors was the construction of a school building. A one-room cedar structure, it was also used for church and social gatherings. The original schoolhouse was replaced in the 1930s by a newer frame structure. Like its predecessor, it also served as a church and community center. The school was consolidated with other area schools in 1938, and the building later was dismantled. A community cemetery (about one-half miles west) was established on land adjacent to the school building. Although there may have been earlier, undocumented burials, the oldest marked grave is that of school teacher J. T. Hungerford (1844-1880), the apparent victim of tuberculosis. A few days after Hungerford's death, another community resident, Susan J. Arnold (1845-1880) was also buried in the graveyard. Since that time many area citizens have been interred there. Few residents remain in the Cedron vicinity. The cemetery and school building foundation are the last visible reminders of a once-thriving rural community. (1990)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the 1850s settlers moving west were drawn to the fertile bottomlands along Cedron Creek in northeastern Bosque County. Among their first shared projects was a one-room cedar schoolhouse that doubled as church and gathering place, later rebuilt in frame and finally consolidated away in 1938. The community cemetery nearby holds its oldest marked grave, that of schoolteacher J. T. Hungerford, who died of tuberculosis in 1880; today the graveyard and a foundation are the last traces of a once-thriving settlement.
Why it matters
Cedron tells the quiet, common story of rural America—a school and a cemetery as the beating heart of a frontier community that flourished, faded, and left only its dead behind.
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Related people
- · J. T. Hungerford
- · Susan J. Arnold
Themes & tags
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