Edgewood Cemetery - Edgewood, TX
N 32° 42.071 W 095° 53.098
15S E 229545 N 3621840
Edgewood Cemetery, aka "Northside Cemetery," is located at 307 N Houston St, Edgewood, TX. It went inactive in the 1920s, and suffered neglect. A sign at the cemetery gate lists thirty-three known burials, but there are likely more.
Waymark Code: WMQ03G
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/20/2015
Views: 2
Findagrave lists nearly fifty burials, including several "new" ones that I added after photographing them on a 11/19/2015 walk, noting that there are plenty of fallen leaves to hide others. Several of the Findagrave listings may be spurious, as their dates do not jibe with the cemetery's retirement in the 1920s, and it is likely that the burials were at Oak Hill Cemetery, also in Edgewood. A 1978 Texas Historical Marker here provides some background:
District Judge-elect John C. Robertson (1824-1895) and his partner, W.S. Herndon (1837-1903), gave land in 1878 for a railroad depot. This started Edgewood community. Citizens of Canton moved their shipping here from Wills Point due to the Van Zandt County Seat dispute. The earliest gravestone in this community cemetery is that of Bruce Echols (1888-1889). Judge Robertson gave this site to the town in 1896, but the deed was lost and burials declined. The last interment was in the 1920s. Recently restored after long neglect, this plot is also known as Northside Cemetery.
The City of Edgewood also provides some complementary information:
Just north of town on Houston St. (FM 859), lies a small, forgotten cemetery for many years, until recently. The city of Edgewood and various groups have refurbished this cemetery after finding that there were many unmarked graves of unknown families of the past, and railroad workers. Records have been lost for this cemetery. The townspeople wanted to show the respect for these forgotten and have placed "unknown" markers on found grave sites. Local clubs such as Eagle Scouts, Boy Scout, and Girl Scout Troops have added their touches to beautify the cemetery.
At the cemetery gate is a sign, "Early Area Settlers," that lists the names of all those known to be buried here:
The number of people buried in this cemetery is very difficult to determine due to the destruction over time to many gravestones and the lack of markers at time of burial, etc. Only about fifteen gravestones survive but, according to all sources, the cemetery was full at the time use was discontinued in mid-1920. Below are the names of all people known to be buried here. However, there are some who will forever be unknown. This information is printed in Book 4 Van Zandt County Texas Cemeteries Published 1995.
Names
In honor and memory of the early citizens of Edgewood Texas, this is placed by Edgewood Girl Scout Troop 3235: Emilianne Belzle, Merideth Hayden, Charlene Henson, Haley Horrell, Sarah Pearce, Lit-Emily Sutton and leader Mischeal Rowdown 2012.