Southland Cemetery, Old
Grand Prairie, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded in 1910 by Thomas H. Hall (1867 - 1965), this cemetery was the result of a need to have a burial ground closer to the community than those existing more than four miles distant. Four acres of land were dedicated for use as a cemetery, and Hall began to plot the original plan for the design of the graveyard, using lot markers made of bois d'arc wood. The oldest marked grave in the cemetery is that of Edward Z. Motley (1885 - 1910). Also buried that year was Thomas Hall's brother, George Byrd Hall (1878 - 1910). Two stones which reflect earlier death dates (Thomas E. Vernoy, 1879, and Fannie Millar Sadler and infant daughter, 1909) document reinterment here from other locations. In 1918 Emma Motley (1856 - 1946) donated funds for the erection of a stone and wrought iron arched entrance gate for the cemetery. Although a cemetery association had been formed about 1939, the cemetery was not deeded to the trustees of the Southland Cemetery Association until 1973 by the heirs of Thomas H. Hall. The Old Southland Cemetery stands as a reminder to Grand Prairie residents of their community's heritage. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1910, Thomas H. Hall founded this cemetery to give his growing community a burial ground closer than the ones four miles away, dedicating four acres and laying out the plots himself with lot markers whittled from bois d'arc wood. The earliest graves date to that first year, and in 1918 Emma Motley funded the stone-and-wrought-iron arched entrance gate. Held by Hall's family until 1973, when it was deeded to a cemetery association, the grounds remain a touchstone of early Grand Prairie.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the origins of a Dallas-area community in the years it was taking root, a homemade civic institution that still links today's residents to their town's founders.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1910, the area that is now Grand Prairie was still mostly rural, open country between the growing cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Farming families lived spread out across the prairie, and things urban Americans took for granted, like a nearby church, school or cemetery, often meant a long trip by wagon or on foot.
That distance mattered most at a funeral. When the closest burial grounds were more than four miles away, as the marker notes, burying a family member meant a hard journey over country roads. For many rural communities, opening a local cemetery was one of the first signs they had become a real community with their own institutions.
This was also the Progressive Era, when towns across the country were organizing, building and taking on more civic work. Many communities still relied on generous individuals to provide basic needs, and that is how this cemetery began.
People & events
Thomas H. Hall founded the cemetery in 1910. Four acres were dedicated as burial ground, and Hall laid out the original plan himself. He marked the lots with posts of bois d'arc, the hard, durable wood of the Osage orange tree, which Texans valued for fence posts because it resisted rot. It was a practical, local choice from a man building something to last.
The cemetery's first year was marked by grief. The oldest marked grave belongs to Edward Z. Motley, who died in 1910 at about twenty-five. That same year, Hall's younger brother, George Byrd Hall, was buried here as well. A few older stones, one dated 1879 and another from 1909 for Fannie Millar Sadler and her infant daughter, show that families moved loved ones here from other graves to bring them closer to home.
In 1918, Emma Motley paid for a stone and wrought-iron arched entrance gate. The marker does not say why, but a gift like that is often a way of honoring loved ones buried inside. A cemetery association formed around 1939, but Hall's heirs did not deed the grounds to its trustees until 1973, more than six decades after Thomas Hall first marked out the lots.
Its place in the American story
Small community cemeteries like this one are among the most common, and most overlooked, historic places in America. Across the country, burial grounds were often started by one family or neighbor, maintained by volunteers, and passed to a formal association only years later. Southland Cemetery follows that pattern closely.
These places are where a community's early history is actually recorded. Census records and deeds say who owned what, but gravestones tell who lived here, who died young, and which families stayed. In a region that has since grown into one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas, a cemetery like this keeps the agricultural years from being forgotten.
The marker was dedicated during the Texas Sesquicentennial, the state's 150th anniversary of independence. That celebration encouraged communities across Texas to record local stories like this one, which might otherwise have been lost to suburban growth.
If you visit
Start at the entrance and look for the stone and wrought-iron arched gate that Emma Motley funded in 1918. Gates like this were a source of pride for rural communities, and walking under one is a nice way to begin a visit.
Inside, walk slowly and read the stones. Look for the early burials from 1910 and the older reinterred stones that are dated before the cemetery existed. Those are the details that tell the cemetery's founding story. Treat the grounds respectfully, since this is still a cemetery and families may be visiting.
Grand Prairie lies in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so this is an easy, quiet stop during a busier metro trip. It offers a peaceful contrast to the surrounding highways, a small place where the area's farming past is still visible.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Thomas H. Hall
- · Emma Motley
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fuget Cemetery
Grand Prairie, TX
This ground lay within a 640-acre tract patented to Peters colonists Rowland and Anna Huitt in 1843; Rowland became Dallas County's second sheriff in 1847. The oldest marked grave dates to 1864, and among those buried are pioneer families, infants, and veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I, with the last burial in 1951. Named by tradition for the Fuget family, the cemetery has since 1949 been maintained by Navy personnel of the adjoining former air station.
Jordan-Bowles House
Grand Prairie, TX
David Jordan, who came to Texas from Tennessee around 1859, built this house about 1860 from hand-hewn logs cut in the Trinity River bottomlands. A farmer, he also ran a store and a stage stand on the Dallas-Fort Worth Road in a time of frequent Indian raids — the outlaw Sam Bass gang was even suspected of an 1870 holdup nearby. Victor Bowles bought the property in 1886, keeping it in his family for 65 years, until Minnie Bowles remodeled it and donated it to the city in 1951 as a museum and meeting place.
Jordan-Hight Family Cemetery
Grand Prairie, TX
This burial ground began in 1866 when David A. Jordan set aside land to bury his son-in-law, Robert A. Hight. What started as a family plot soon opened to neighbors and became a public cemetery holding members of many pioneer families of the area — the Bowles, Brannan, Robertson, Miller, Jordan, and Hight lines among them. A family association formed in 1955 to care for the grounds.
Cross Timbers
Grand Prairie, TX
The Eastern Cross Timbers is a narrow ribbon of sandy woodland dividing the Blackland and Grand Prairies, and for centuries its springs, salt licks, grass, and game made it a natural gathering place. Wichita people of Caddoan stock roamed here in the 1700s, while Kiowa and Comanche wintered and traded along routes that carried southern flint northward; French traders arrived by 1720 and Spanish expeditions passed through toward their missions. Anglo-American settlement in the 1840s brought conflict, culminating in the 1841 Battle of Village Creek, after which the tribes withdrew westward.