Linn Flat Cemetery
Trawick, Nacogdoches County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This cemetery has served the Linn Flat community since the middle 19th century. John Polk deeded the land as a burial ground in 1849 and stipulated that he be buried in the cemetery's center. Records indicate the earliest grave, unmarked, dates to 1837 and belongs to William Hamilton. The earliest marked grave is that of Polk's wife, Elizabeth Allen Polk, who died in 1855. The Linn Flat community itself was founded in 1851, the year after Robert E. Wynne became the town's first postmaster. Named for the local groves of Linn trees, Linn Flat grew and prospered until it was bypassed by the Texas & New Orleans Railroad in 1903. For more than a century, local families maintained the cemetery, adding protective fencing and a tabernacle. A formal association received its charter in 1972, and the community continues to use the burial ground and hold annual homecoming reunions. Veterans of American military conflicts from as early as the Civil War are buried here. With hundreds of marked gravesites, the cemetery preserves the history of Linn Flat, now a dispersed rural community. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This cemetery has served the Linn Flat community since the mid-nineteenth century, its land deeded by John Polk in 1849 with the stipulation that he lie at its center. The earliest burial, unmarked, dates to 1837, while the oldest marked grave belongs to Polk's wife, who died in 1855. The town of Linn Flat, named for its groves of linn trees, thrived until the railroad bypassed it in 1903, but families have kept the burial ground and its annual homecoming reunions alive for more than a century.
Why it matters
When the railroad passed a town by, its cemetery often outlived it — becoming, as at Linn Flat, the enduring memory of a community the tracks left behind.
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Related people
- · John Polk
- · Elizabeth Allen Polk
- · William Hamilton
- · Robert E. Wynne
Themes & tags
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