Pioneer Cemetery
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The area now known as Pioneer Cemetery is composed of the remnants of four early graveyards. The graves, dating from the 1850s, include many of Dallas' early settlers and civic leaders. Two of the graveyards that now make up Pioneer Cemetery were associated with early Dallas fraternal organizations. The earliest marked grave in the section once known as the Tannehill Lodge No. 52 Masonic Cemetery is that of Elizabeth McPherson, who died in 1853. R. P. Rogers (d. 1852) is the oldest known interment in the section once belonging to Dallas Lodge No. 44 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Some of the land nearby was once used as a cemetery by the Hebrew Benevolent Association. The property was deeded to Congregation Emanuel in 1912, and in 1956, the graves were moved to the Emanuel Cemetery. The fourth section, known as Old City Cemetery, was formally deeded to the city of Dallas in 1871. Its oldest marked grave, that of John Henry Long, is dated 1870. The last burials in what is now called Pioneer Cemetery took place in the latter part of the 1920s. The monuments that have remained over time are significant reminders of the history of the city of Dallas. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Pioneer Cemetery gathers the remnants of four early Dallas graveyards whose burials date to the 1850s and hold many of the city's first settlers and civic leaders. Two grew from the Tannehill Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, another from the Hebrew Benevolent Association whose graves were later moved, and the fourth from the Old City Cemetery deeded to Dallas in 1871. The last burials came in the late 1920s, leaving the surviving monuments as reminders of the young city's roots.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the founders and fraternal, religious, and civic communities that built early Dallas, a cross-section of the people behind a great American city.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Crockett, John McClannahan
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