Palo Duro Wildorado Cemetery
Dawn, Deaf Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Early settlers to this area included the J.C. Womble family, which came in January 1892. The next year, the community obtained land on which to build a schoolhouse, known as the Union School. In May 1893, George D. Whitfield, a young cowboy, was buried in what was the schoolyard. His is the first marked burial, although two earlier graves were known to exist at the time. In 1901, residents organized the Palo Duro Missionary Baptist Church and held services in the schoolhouse. They moved across the road in 1905. In May 1910, the school moved approximately two miles north, and the property reverted back to its original owner. The land with the gravesites was deeded to the community in 1914 for use as a cemetery. During the mid-20th century, area residents bought additional land and added a well and fence. As the burial site of numerous area residents, as well as men and women veterans of the military, the cemetery serves as a link to the area's rich history. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settlement of this stretch of the Texas Panhandle began in the early 1890s, and in 1893 a young cowboy, George D. Whitfield, was buried in what was then the schoolyard — the first marked grave of a burial ground that grew up around a school and Baptist congregation. Deeded to the community in 1914, the cemetery gathered generations of area residents and military veterans, both men and women. It carries the Historic Texas Cemetery designation.
Why it matters
A frontier schoolyard grave that grew into a community cemetery, the site preserves the memory of the ranchers, cowboys, and veterans who settled the high plains.
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Related people
- · George D. Whitfield
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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