Union Cemetery
Cross Roads, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
By 1860, David Thompson acquired land in this vicinity on the original Hezekiah Mitcham land survey. He established a grist mill and cotton gin on Wildcat Creek. Thompson's sons conveyed land at this site for Union Church and School purposes. By 1885, the date of the earliest marked grave, local residents used the land adjacent to the church for burial. The church, school and post office for the dispersed Wildcat, or Thompson's Mill, community closed near the turn of the 20th century, but area residents continued using the burial ground, which is now maintained by a cemetery association. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Around 1860 David Thompson settled this stretch of Henderson County and put Wildcat Creek to work, running a grist mill and cotton gin that anchored a small community sometimes called Thompson's Mill. His sons later gave land for a Union Church and school, and by 1885 neighbors were burying their dead on the adjoining ground. The church, school and post office faded near the turn of the century, but the cemetery endured, kept up by a local association long after the mill community itself disappeared.
Why it matters
The site captures the arc of a self-sufficient 19th-century Texas mill hamlet, where a single family's gin and gristmill could give rise to a church, a school and finally a lasting burial ground.
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Related people
- · David Thompson
Themes & tags
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