Poe Prairie
Millsap, Parker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Poe Prairie community, made up largely of farm families, was named for early settler James William Poe (1853-1934), a Baptist minister who had moved here with his family in the mid-1870s. A cemetery was begun in 1879 with the death of one-year-old Johnie McCasland. Land for a cemetery, school, and church was later given to the community by the McCasland family. The school, begun in the mid-1880s, was merged with the Millsap School District in 1928. The cemetery stands as a physical reminder of the Poe Prairie Community. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Poe Prairie grew up as a community of farm families in Parker County, taking its name from James William Poe, a Baptist minister who settled here in the mid-1870s. Its cemetery began sorrowfully in 1879 with the burial of a one-year-old child, and the McCasland family later donated land for a cemetery, school, and church—the trio of institutions around which rural Texas communities organized their lives. The school served the neighborhood until it merged into the Millsap district in 1928.
Why it matters
The marker preserves the story of the small agricultural settlements that once dotted rural Texas, most now remembered only by their cemeteries.
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Related people
- · James William Poe
Themes & tags
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