Tate Cemetery
Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Evan Calloway Tate (1832-1885) brought his family to this area from Georgia in 1870, establishing the Tate Springs community. Land for this cemetery was deeded to the community by Tate heirs in 1894. At that time there were four marked burials, those of E. C. Tate and three of his children. Other members of the Tate family and the Tate Springs community were later interred here. Many of the graves are unmarked. Care of the cemetery was entrusted in later years to family members of those buried here. A fence and entry arch were erected in 1965. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Evan Calloway Tate brought his family from Georgia to this part of North Texas in 1870, founding the Tate Springs community. When he and three of his children died, the family set aside this ground, formally deeding it to the community in 1894. Generations of the Tate family and their neighbors were laid to rest here, many in graves now unmarked, with descendants tending the site into the twentieth century.
Why it matters
Community cemeteries like this one trace the quiet arc of post–Civil War settlement, preserving the names—and the anonymity—of the families who built rural Texas.
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Related people
- · Evan Calloway Tate
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hawkins Cemetery
Arlington, TX
Named for Tennessee-born pioneer Harvey Hawkins, who received a 160-acre land grant signed by Governor Sam Houston in 1860, this cemetery began as a family plot for the Tate Springs community. By local memory an enslaved man named Poly Penn was the first buried here, though his grave is unmarked; the earliest lettered stone dates to 1868. As the settlement grew, the plot became a public burial ground in 1890, chronicling the pioneer families who put down roots in the mid-1800s.
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