Buckner Cemetery -- McKinney TX - Ghost Towns on Waymarking.com

The historic yet unmaintained Buckner Cemetery stands in the middle of a parking lot at a flea market. It is the last vestige of the townsite of Buckner, the first organized town in Collin County. But for a placement error, Buckner could have been the Collin county seat instead of a page in a history book.

The state historic markers read as follows:

"BUCKNER

John (Jack) and Polly McGarrah and family came to this site from Tennessee in 1842. The third settler in present Collin County, McGarrah opened a trading post to barter for hides and furs. While in the act of building a family fort, he and his men had to defend themselves from roaming hostile Indians. The Texas Legislature created Collin County on April 3, 1846, directing that its county seat, to be named "Buckner", would be no more than three miles from the geographic center. Buckner townsite was soon laid off here in McGarrah's settlement. On the Fourth of July, citizens met here and elected their first county officials. They also raised a military company for the Mexican War. On Sept. 21 there was an auction of Buckner town lots; on Nov. 25, 1846, the post office opened, with McGarrah as postmaster. By 1848 it was noticed that Buckner townsite was outside the legal limits for the county seat. The Legislature ordered another election and named the new county seat "McKinney", honoring early settler Collin McKinney, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Residents moved their homes and other buildings to McKinney (3 mi.E), and Buckner townsite reverted to agricultural land uses. (1978)"

and

"BUCKNER CEMETERY

The land surrounding this historic cemetery was part of a grant obtained by John McGarrah, a member of the Peters Colony who arrived in this area in 1843. McGarrah founded a trading post near this site, and soon the Fort Buckner settlement was established. It would later become the first county seat of Collin County.

David William O'Brien (1808-1885) came to Collin County with his family in 1857. He eventually acquired the part of the McGarrah land which included this site. The Buckner Cemetery, which was established on the O'Brien land, has also been referred to as O'Brien Cemetery over the years.

Although there may be earlier unmarked graves, the oldest documented burial is that of Franklin O'Brien (1851-1870). Many early pioneers of Collin County are interred here, including victims of a smallpox epidemic in the 1870s. According to local tradition, a Kiowa Indian named Spotted Tail also lies here in an unmarked grave.

The only physical remnant of the Buckner community, this cemetery serves as a reminder of the early history of Collin County. (1988)"

In 2017 the cemetery has been fenced, signed and has 2 historical markers. Blasterz suspect the fencing was added to keep cars from driving through the cemetery as you have to snake your way awkwardly in your car around the cemetery.

Buckner Cemetery is not mowed, and the majority of the beautiful late 19th century tombstones have been pushed over by vandals or maybe the impact of cars.

Others are propped against trees away from the graves they used to mark. The cemetery is not mowed, and the day Blasterz visited (3 Dec 2017) we walked through at least 2-3 years worth of acorns on the ground.

A very sad and neglected spot, for being so historic.

Reason for Abandonment: Economic Date Abandoned: 01/01/1850 Related Web Page: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   12/03/2017 Benchmark Blasterz visited it