New Hope Cemetery & New Hope Baptist Church
New Hope, Parker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Pioneer settler Joseph Wren donated five acres of land at this site in 1875 for use as a community cemetery. The church, which had been meeting in a log building (2 miles northeast), moved here later that same year. The name "New Hope" was suggested by Mattie Brookshire. The first interment in the cemetery was that of an infant girl, Mary Sudduth, who died in 1876. A schoolhouse, used until the 1920s, was located on land now included in the burial grounds. An annual homecoming is held here each May. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Pioneer settler Joseph Wren gave five acres here in 1875 for a community cemetery, and the local congregation—until then meeting in a log building two miles away—moved to the site later that year. Mattie Brookshire suggested the name "New Hope," and the cemetery's first burial, in 1876, was that of an infant girl, Mary Sudduth. A schoolhouse served the community here into the 1920s, and an annual homecoming still draws people back each May.
Why it matters
New Hope shows the familiar frontier trinity of church, school, and cemetery growing together to give a young Texas community its lasting sense of place.
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Related people
- · Joseph Wren
- · Mattie Brookshire
Themes & tags
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