Site of Berachah Home and Cemetery
Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Berachah Rescue Society was organized at Waco in 1894 by the Rev. J. T. Upchurch (b. 1870) for the protection of homeless girls and unwed mothers. Nine years later he opened the Berachah Industrial Home at this site. Ten buildings were located here, including a print shop for publication of the "Purity Journal". The cemetery, which contains more than eighty graves, was first used in 1904 for the burial of Eunice Williams, one of the residents. The home closed in 1935, but the site was used until 1942 as an orphanage run by Upchurch's daughter Allie Mae and her husband Frank Wiese. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded at Waco in 1894 by the Rev. J. T. Upchurch, the Berachah Rescue Society aimed to shelter homeless girls and unwed mothers at a time when such women faced harsh social judgment. Nine years later Upchurch opened the Berachah Industrial Home on this site, a ten-building campus that included a print shop for the 'Purity Journal.' Its cemetery holds more than eighty graves — the first, in 1904, that of a resident named Eunice Williams — and after the home closed in 1935 the site served as an orphanage until 1942.
Why it matters
The home reflects an era of faith-driven social reform and the vulnerable women it sought to protect, whose lives and losses are recorded in its quiet cemetery.
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Related people
- · J. T. Upchurch
- · Eunice Williams
Themes & tags
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