HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Colfax Cemetery

Colfax, Van Zandt County, Texas

Marker Inscription

In 1883, A. L. Kellam donated five acres of land that helped establish this cemetery. The first burial, which took place in 1884, was that of Elisha Tunnell, founder of Tunnell's Chapel, the rural community which later became known as Colfax. Land included with the burial ground has been occupied by three school buildings and two local churches, and was often the site of revivals and summer camp meetings. Colfax Cemetery which contains about 1,000 graves is the resting place of many of the area's pioneers and their descendants. (1983)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

A. L. Kellam donated five acres in 1883 to help establish this cemetery, whose first burial in 1884 was Elisha Tunnell, founder of the chapel and community that became Colfax. The surrounding land held three schoolhouses and two churches over the years and hosted revivals and summer camp meetings. Today the cemetery holds roughly a thousand graves of the area's pioneers and their descendants.

Why it matters

Colfax Cemetery preserves the founding memory of a rural Van Zandt County community and the pioneers who built it.

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Related people

  • ยท A. L. Kellam
  • ยท Elisha Tunnell

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryLandmark

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