HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Sonora Cemetery

Fairlie, Hunt County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The Sonora Cemetery had its origin in 1872 with the burial of S. B. McBee, who is believed to be a child of pioneer settlers. Located adjacent to the site of the Sonora Community Church and School on a 3.5 acre lot, the burial ground covered more than seven acres by 1880. When a rail line was completed one mile west of the Sonora community in 1887, residents began to move to the new town of Fairlie. Containing more than 900 graves, the Sonora Cemetery continues to serve Fairlie and the surrounding area.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

The Sonora Cemetery began in 1872 with the burial of a child, S. B. McBee, beside the Sonora community's church and school, and it grew to more than seven acres by 1880. When a rail line was completed a mile to the west in 1887, residents drifted to the new town of Fairlie, but the cemetery endured. Today it holds more than 900 graves and still serves the surrounding area.

Why it matters

The cemetery outlived the community it was born with, a quiet record of the railroad's power to move whole towns and of the settlers left resting behind them.

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Themes & tags

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