Trinity Farms/Rancho Grande Cemetery
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This cemetery represents the last remaining physical reminder of the community of people who worked and lived on a vast commercial farm here known as the Dallas County Trinity Farms from about 1915 to 1946. The farm covered about 3,000 acres of land which had been farmed for many years. Dallas County Trinity Farms was one of several large farms owned by E. P. Harwell of Tulsa, Oklahoma, C. H. Clark of Wichita Falls, Texas, and T. H. Harbin of Waxahachie, Texas. The Trinity Farms Company provided housing, schools, and a general store/commissary for use by the farm laborers and their families. Farm laborers consisted mostly of Mexican citizens, many of whom arrived during the Mexican Revolution, and a sizable number of African Americans. Harbin lived in a large white ranch house and operated the farm which was also known as Rancho Grande. The earliest recorded burials occurred in the early 1920s. The children of Hispanics and African Americans who worked on the farm attended separate schools. Similarly, the cemetery contains separate sections for Hispanics and African Americans. The last burial occurred in the early 1940s. The cemetery is maintained by descendants of the families interred here. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This cemetery is all that remains of the community that lived and labored on the Dallas County Trinity Farms, a 3,000-acre commercial operation — also called Rancho Grande — that ran from about 1915 to 1946. The farm provided housing, schools, and a commissary for its workers, who were largely Mexican citizens, many fleeing the Mexican Revolution, and a sizable number of African Americans. In keeping with the era's segregation, the children attended separate schools and the dead were buried in separate sections.
Why it matters
The segregated ground preserves the story of the immigrant and African American labor that powered Texas agribusiness, and the color line that divided them even in death.
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Related people
- · T.H. Harbin
Related events
- · Mexican Revolution
Themes & tags
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