Eli Smith
N. Richland Hills, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A native of Missouri, Eli Smith moved to Texas in 1859 with his parents. They settled in this part of Tarrant County, and in 1868 Smith married Sarah J. Hightower. About 1876 Smith donated part of his farmland to the community, then known as Zion, for a Methodist church and cemetery. Residents of the area honored Smith for his generosity and community service by renaming the settlement Smithfield. Smith remained an active Mason and a successful farmer until his sudden death shortly before his thirty-first birthday. He is buried at this site.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As Anglo settlers pushed into North Texas in the mid-1800s, small farming communities grew up around whatever church, school, or gin a generous neighbor could provide. Eli Smith, a Missouri native who came to Tarrant County in 1859, donated part of his farm about 1876 for a Methodist church and cemetery in the settlement then called Zion. Grateful residents renamed the place Smithfield in his honor, though Smith died suddenly just shy of his thirty-first birthday and lies buried here.
Why it matters
Smithfield's story captures how frontier towns across Texas took root through private acts of generosity, with a single donated acre for a church and burying ground becoming the seed of a lasting community.
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Related people
- · Eli Smith
- · Sarah J. Hightower
Related events
- · Founding of Smithfield
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Smithfield Cemetery
North Richland Hills, TX
This cemetery began in the early 1870s when Eli Smith — the namesake of Smithfield, who came from Missouri to Texas around 1859 — gave part of his farm for a burying ground. Its oldest marked grave, an infant's, dates to 1872, and more than seventy-five graves come from that first decade, including Smith's own. Among those laid to rest here are pioneer physician Lilburn Howard Colley, for whom Colleyville is named, and Civil War veterans from both Union and Confederate armies.
Alfred Madison Hightower
N.Richland Hills, TX
Alfred M. Hightower arrived near Smithfield from Illinois in 1858 to ranch, and though he opposed secession, he cast his lot with the South once war broke out. As a Confederate mounted rifleman he fought at Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge) in Arkansas, one of the largest battles west of the Mississippi. He tried Kansas in the 1870s before returning to ranch here until his death, leaving his name on a nearby street.
Smithfield Baptist Church
North Richland Hills, TX
Twelve charter members organized this congregation in 1895 under the Rev. G. W. Green, building a sanctuary in 1902 on lots donated by G. W. Gunter. Over the following decades it launched missions, youth and women's groups, and even a daughter church at Shady Grove. Renamed First Baptist Church of Smithfield in 1958, it built a new sanctuary in 1962 and grew alongside the community now called North Richland Hills.
Smithfield Masonic Lodge No. 455 A.F. & A.M.
North Richland Hills, TX
This marker records the founding of a Masonic lodge whose organizational meeting was held on July 13, 1875, first known as the Grand Prairie Lodge. In its earliest days the fraternal group met inside the Zion Church until members raised their own lodge building in 1876. The account reflects how frontier-era Texas communities built civic and social institutions almost as soon as they took root.