HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Mt. Sinai Cemetery

Hemphill, Sabine County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Mt. Sinai Cemetery has served residents of southeastern Sabine County for more than 100 years. The first interment in the burial ground dates to 1894. Earlier burial dates, however, represent graves relocated here from the Morris, Anthony and Robertson cemeteries after water encroachment from the Toledo Bend Reservoir, built by 1968, necessitated the reinterments. Lutcher & Moore Lumber Company deeded land for the cemetery in 1955. Today, Mt. Sinai Cemetery Association continues to maintain the burial ground, which serves as a reminder of Sabine County's past. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2006

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Mt. Sinai Cemetery has served the families of southeastern Sabine County since its first burial in 1894, on land the Lutcher & Moore Lumber Company deeded in 1955. Some graves here are older still, relocated from the Morris, Anthony, and Robertson cemeteries after the Toledo Bend Reservoir flooded their original ground by 1968. Maintained today by a local association, it remains a tangible record of the county's timber-country past.

Why it matters

The cemetery preserves the memory of an East Texas lumber community, including the graves moved to higher ground when a great reservoir reshaped the land.

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Themes & tags

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