Snake Creek Cemetery and Church
Needville, Fort Bend County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Tombstones in this cemetery reflect early settlers who lived in Snake Creek community: Hodges, Boon, Boone, Darst, Davis, Gill, Armstrong, Hartgraves, Hughes, Kennelly, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Snedecor, Sims, Tarver, West. Two veterans of the Battle of san Jacinto, Emory H. Darst and John P. Gill are buried here, as are several Confederate veterans. Land for the graveyard was granted in the 1850s by william Cole and by Peter L. West, who is buried here. A community church west of the cemetery served residents many years until destroyed during a 1932 hurricane.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The headstones here read like a roster of the Snake Creek community that farmed this stretch of Fort Bend County from the mid-1800s. Among them lie two veterans of the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, Emory H. Darst and John P. Gill, alongside several Confederate soldiers, binding the site to both Texas independence and the Civil War. Land for the graveyard was granted in the 1850s by William Cole and Peter L. West, and a nearby community church served residents until a 1932 hurricane destroyed it.
Why it matters
In one small burial ground the cemetery gathers the founding fight for Texas independence and the later Civil War, showing how a single frontier community lived through both.
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Related people
- · Emory H. Darst
- · John P. Gill
- · Peter L. West
- · William Cole
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
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