Dothan Cemetery
Cicso, Eastland County, Texas
Marker Inscription
THE TEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILWAY BUILT THE DELMAR DEPOT NEAR HERE IN 1880 BEFORE RAIL ACTIVITY SHIFTED TO RED GAP (LATER CISCO). A NEW COMMUNITY NAMED DOTHAN FORMED AND GAINED A POST OFFICE IN 1902. JIM AND MANIRVAL (SHORT) DUNAWAY, WHO SETTLED HERE IN 1886, DONATED LAND FOR A COMMUNITY CEMETERY. THE FIRST BURIAL WAS THEIR GREAT-GRANDSON, CARROLL LEO DUNAWAY, IN 1905. DOTHAN INCLUDED A SCHOOL AND STORES AND BY 1915 REPORTED A POPULATION OF FIFTY. THE SCHOOL CLOSED IN 1940. FAMILY AND FRIENDS HAVE ALWAYS MAINTAINED THE CEMETERY, WHICH FEATURES GRANITE, LIMESTONE AND FIELDSTONE GRAVE MARKERS, A WIRE PERIMETER FENCE, AND AT LEAST 22 VETERANS’ GRAVES. THE DOTHAN CEMETERY ASSOCIATION FORMED IN 1989 TO PRESERVE THIS HISTORIC VESTIGE OF A RURAL COMMUNITY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Texas and Pacific Railway built the Delmar Depot near here in 1880 before rail activity shifted toward what became Cisco. A community called Dothan grew up, gaining a post office in 1902, and settlers Jim and Manirval Dunaway donated land for a cemetery whose first burial, in 1905, was their own great-grandson. Dothan supported a school and stores and reported fifty residents by 1915, but the school closed in 1940. Families have kept up the cemetery, with its granite, limestone, and fieldstone markers and at least twenty-two veterans' graves.
Why it matters
Dothan Cemetery is a well-tended vestige of a railroad-born prairie community, showing how the coming — and going — of the rails made and unmade small Texas towns.
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Related people
- · Jim Dunaway
- · Manirval Dunaway
- · Carroll Leo Dunaway
Themes & tags
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