Crosby Cemetery

In early Mason, court met under an old live oak by the town well on the square until the first courthouse and jail went up in 1869. S. F. Lace Bridges kept the first hotel in a picket house and later built the Mason House, a stage stand for years. Early lessons were given by William Poffard at the home of W. C. Lewis. The county courthouse and all its records burned on January 21, 1877. The live oak on the square came down in 1951 to make way for traffic.

What the plaque says

Crosby Cemetery The first burial ground for the citizens of Mason and Koocksville, this cemetery traces its history to the 1850s. The oldest documented burial is that of Kate Lemburg, who died in 1856. Also interred here is Mason County's first sheriff, Thomas Milligan (1810-1860). The Crosby family purchased the property surrounding the cemetery in 1866, and it has been known as Crosby cemetery since that time. Those buried in the cemetery include members of the Crosby and other pioneer families. It stands as a reflection of the area's heritage. (1988)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Mason — 1.0 mi
  A reconstructed officers' quarters on Post Oak Hill above Mason, standing where the army's stone fort was taken apart by the town that grew up below it.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 14 mi
  A limestone cave on the James River where about four million Mexican free-tailed bats raise their young each summer, kept open to visitors by a family's gift.
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area — 30 mi
  A dome of pink granite north of Fredericksburg that rises some 385 feet above Sandy Creek, creaks as it cools at night, and has drawn people for thousands of years.

More markers nearby

• Two Sheriffs of Mason County — 0.3 mi
• Koocksville — 0.4 mi
• St. Joseph's Catholic Church — 0.5 mi
• Old Fort Mason — 0.6 mi