Caradan Cemetery

Caradan, nine miles northeast of Goldthwaite, was established in the 1880s and named for two pioneer settlers, Samuel Losson Caraway and Dan T. Bush. In 1889 the community of fifteen people was granted a post office. Development was slow: in 1930 Caradan had twenty-nine residents and five businesses, and in 1950 seventy-five residents and two businesses. By 1970 the population had fallen to eighteen, though the community still supported one business, and the post office was discontinued in 1974. Caradan reported twenty people in 1990 and again in 2000.

What the plaque says

Caradan Cemetery After the Civil War families settled in this area, originally called Lookout. A.F. Smith deeded two acres of land in 1889 for a public school. Arthur Nixon, the infant son of W.J. Nixon and N.E. Nixon, died later that year and was buried on school land. When the school burned in the early 1900s, it was rebuilt in another location, leaving two acres for the cemetery. Among the more than 150 graves here are veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. The cemetery is one of the few physical remnants of the once thriving town of Caradan and still serves the community. (1996)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery — 3.4 mi
• North Brown Cemetery — 5.5 mi
• Center City Cemetery — 6.4 mi
• Center City Community — 6.4 mi