Elkhart Myrtle Springs Cemetery
Elkhart, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established with a church and school nearby, this cemetery is the primary remaining vestige of the early farming community known as Myrtle Springs. John A. Box of the David G. Burnet colony and original settler of the property received the land from the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas in 1835. Named for nearby flowing springs amid dense myrtle bushes, it was deeded to the cemetery association by E.E. and Ethel Buie in Nov. 1927 with an additional acre later donated by Emmett Coleman. The cemetery is a chronicle of community history, with many early Anderson County settlers, veterans, community leaders and their descendants buried here. The oldest dated marker found is that of Henry Davis (d. 1903). Historic Texas Cemetery - 2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Myrtle Springs Cemetery is the last visible trace of an early Anderson County farming community that grew up around a church, a school, and the myrtle-fringed springs that gave it its name. The land traces to John A. Box, an original settler of David G. Burnet's colony who received his grant from the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas in 1835. Deeded to a cemetery association in 1927, its graves — the oldest dated 1903 — hold generations of the county's settlers, veterans, and community leaders.
Why it matters
Vanished farming hamlets like Myrtle Springs survive mainly in their burial grounds, which quietly preserve the names and lineages of the pioneers who first broke ground in Mexican and Republic-era Texas.
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Related people
- · John A. Box
- · Henry Davis
Related events
- · Mexican land grant to John A. Box, 1835
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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