China Spring Cemetery
China Spring, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The China Spring community was originally settled about 1870. It was named for a large grove of chinaberry trees and nearby spring. Burials were first held in family cemeteries. An association was formed by local citizens in 1902 to establish a community burial ground. They purchased the initial tract of five acres. At one time, sheep were used to keep grass trimmed but the experiment failed when they began to stray. An unsual grave is that of Isaac Brock (1787-1909) who lived in three centuries. Many of the area pioneers are buried here.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settled around 1870 and named for a grove of chinaberry trees beside a spring, the China Spring community first buried its dead in scattered family plots before local citizens formed an association in 1902 and bought five acres for a shared burial ground. In an early experiment, sheep were set loose to trim the grass—until they began to stray. Among the graves is that of Isaac Brock, said to have lived in three centuries (1787–1909).
Why it matters
China Spring Cemetery captures the ordinary work of building rural institutions on the Texas frontier, where scattered pioneer families gradually organized the shared spaces of community life.
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Related people
- · Isaac Brock
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
China Spring Tabernacle
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Raised around 1903 on land given by Lavantia Conger, this two-story tabernacle has long been the civic heart of the farming community of China Spring. The Woodmen of the World lodge met upstairs for seven decades, and the building was remodeled by the Works Progress Administration in 1934. Over the years its floors have hosted school assemblies, church revivals, traveling shows, theatricals, lectures, and political rallies.
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Born in the home of early settler Israel Washington Speegle, this congregation formally organized in 1850 as Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, taking the Speegleville name after merging with a neighboring church in 1883. Led largely by part-time pastors and lay members, it sustained Sunday School, summer creek-side baptisms, and community outreach across the generations. As Lake Waco was built and enlarged, the church relocated more than once to make way for the rising water.
Chalk Bluff Baptist Church
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Crawford Cemetery
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