Dido Cemetery
Dido, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The earliest marked grave in this cemetery is that of Amanda Thurmond (1878-1879), granddaughter of Dave Thurmond, who in 1848 first settled this area. Dempsey S. Holt donated three acres in 1887 for a school, church and cemetery. Dr. Isaac L. Van Zandt, a pioneer physician and Confederate veteran, deeded additional land in 1894. The Village of Dido was named for the mythological Queen of Carthage. A thriving community with a Post Office and stores, Dido declined after the railroad bypassed it in the 1890s. Among the 1,000 graves here are those of many pioneer families. (1977)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settlement here began in 1848, and by 1887 landowner Dempsey S. Holt had donated three acres for a school, church, and cemetery, with a Confederate veteran and pioneer physician later adding more. The little village took the whimsical name Dido, after the mythological Queen of Carthage, and thrived with a post office and stores until the railroad passed it by in the 1890s. Around a thousand graves remain, holding many of the area's founding families.
Why it matters
Dido's rise and quiet decline trace the fate of countless American villages whose survival hinged entirely on whether the railroad chose to come their way.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- ¡ Dempsey S. Holt
- ¡ Dave Thurmond
- ¡ Isaac L. Van Zandt
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pioneer's Rest Cemetery
Fort Worth, TX
This burial ground began in the summer of 1850 with the deaths of two young children of Major Ripley A. Arnold, commander of the troops at frontier Fort Worth, when his friend Dr. Adolphus Gouhenant set aside three acres for graves. A cemetery association expanded the grounds in 1871, and the site became the resting place of many of Fort Worth's earliest settlers, including some seventy-five Civil War veterans. Among those buried here are Major Arnold and General Edward H. Tarrant, for whom Tarrant County is named.
Van Zandt Cottage
Fort Worth, TX
Built in the 1860s on the stage road to Weatherford, this cottage was the country home of Khleber Miller Van Zandt, remembered as "Mr. Fort Worth." A Confederate veteran, he became a merchant, banker, lawyer, railroad builder, and state legislator who helped open frontier lands to settlement and shape a growing city. The state restored the house during the 1936 Texas Centennial.
Dido School
Avondale, TX
Dido was among the first communities in Tarrant County, homesteaded in 1848 within the Peters Colony along the stage road from Fort Worth to Decatur. Its school opened in 1854 under a Missouri-born teacher, and when he left to serve in the Confederate Army his wife carried on the classes. Railroads, a new lake, and a wartime Marine base later reshaped the area, drawing families away until the school closed in 1947.
The 1865 Indian Creek Raid
Fort Worth, TX
As Anglo settlement pushed into the north Texas frontier in the mid-1800s, Native peoples grew increasingly determined to defend their lands, and raids and reprisals flared from 1859 into the 1870s. In September 1865, fifteen mounted warriors attacked two Denton County men near this spot; Wright was killed outright, and Smith, struck by an arrow, rode to Denton for help only to die of blood poisoning from the wound.