Democrat Cemetery

In the decades after the first burials here, the farm world around the cemetery changed. Cotton's decline in Mills County continued through the 1940s and 1950s, and by 1959 only 2,078 acres were planted in the fiber. Land once tilled was turned over to pasture for growing herds of mohair goats and sheep, and farms were consolidated: by 1959 harvested cropland had fallen to 32,000 acres, and only 767 farms remained. The county's population dropped with them, to 5,999 in 1950, 4,467 in 1960 and 4,212 in 1970.

What the plaque says

Democrat Cemetery Although settlement of this area dates to 1878, this graveyard was not established until the turn of the 20th century. The earliest documented grave is that of one-year-old Lee Ella Deen, daughter of W. F. and M. L. Deen, who died in November 1904. In February 1905, J. L. Chancellor deeded the surrounding three acres of land to the citizens of the Democrat and Rock Springs communities for use as a public burial ground. Among the early graves in the cemetery are those of a number of infants and children, victims of the influenza epidemic that raged worldwide in the early 20th century, and veterans of the Civil War, World War I and World War II. A reflection of area history, the cemetery remained in use at the turn of the 21st century. (2000)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 25 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• Zephyr Presbyterian Church — 8.4 mi
• First Baptist Church of Zephyr — 8.5 mi
• Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church — 8.6 mi
• Mullin United Methodist Church — 8.9 mi