Woodlawn Cemetery
McKinney, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This cemetery, located along the historic lower Bonham Road on the site of the Old Rock Rest Church and School, was first used during the 1870s. The two and one-half acre plot was deeded to cemetery trustees George A. Wilson, William W. Wallace, and T.C. Boone in 1882. Woodlawn Cemetery is the burial place for many Collin county pioneers. Jimmie Geigas, the first soldier from McKinney killed in World War I, also is buried here. With most of the graves dating before 1900, Woodlawn remains a significant example of a pioneer cemetery. (1984) Incise on back: Given in memory of Mary Klapper Benton, daughter of Philip and Mary Klapper, by her great nieces Lois Head and Birdie Moorhead.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
First used in the 1870s along the historic lower Bonham Road, on the site of the old Rock Rest Church and School, this two-and-a-half-acre plot was formally deeded to cemetery trustees in 1882. It became the resting place of many Collin County pioneers, most of its graves predating 1900. Among those buried here is Jimmie Geigas, the first McKinney soldier killed in World War I.
Why it matters
A well-preserved pioneer cemetery, Woodlawn holds both the settlers who built the county and one of its first sons lost in a global war, spanning the community's frontier and modern eras.
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Related people
- · Jimmie Geigas
Related events
- · World War I
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of Wilmeth-McKinney Homestead
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When J.B. and Nancy Wilmeth staked out 320 acres of untouched Collin County prairie in 1846, Texas had been a U.S. state for less than a year and the frontier was still raw. Their two-story home became a hub of pioneer life—a place of worship for the First Christian Church congregation J.B. organized, and a free school he and his children taught for nearly four decades. J.B. helped choose the county seat and served as district clerk and county judge, while marriages knit his family to that of Collin McKinney, the county's namesake and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
McKinney
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McKinney was founded in 1845 and named for Collin McKinney, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence—the same man who gave his name to the surrounding county. During the Civil War, future Texas governor J. W. Throckmorton raised Company K of the 6th Texas Cavalry here, a well-regarded Confederate unit. The town grew into a center of manufacturing, trade, and medicine for the region.
First Baptist Church of McKinney at Drexel Street
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Organized in April 1882 under the Rev. A. R. Griggs, this fellowship began as the Second Baptist Church, worshipping in the open air beneath a brush arbor. In 1893 church trustees received land here from T. J. Brown and former Texas governor James W. Throckmorton, and the first sanctuary went up the next year. For well over a century the congregation has ordained ministers and served the growing community of McKinney.
McLarry Cemetery
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