Dido Cemetery

Dido's cemetery has outlasted its town, and its best-known burial is a songwriter. The cemetery's own history page says Townes Van Zandt lies in the Van Zandt family plot near the entrance. The same page says the railroad bypassed Dido in the 1890s, residents moved to towns along the line, and the community lost its post office and school. The Methodist church that remains is described there as the oldest Methodist church in Tarrant County, and the cemetery board hosts an annual gathering called Dido Days.

What the plaque says

Dido Cemetery The earliest marked grave in this cemetery is that of Amanda Thurmond (1878-1879), granddaughter of Dave Thurmond, who in 1848 first settled this area. Dempsey S. Holt donated three acres in 1887 for a school, church and cemetery. Dr. Isaac L. Van Zandt, a pioneer physician and Confederate veteran, deeded additional land in 1894. The Village of Dido was named for the mythological Queen of Carthage. A thriving community with a Post Office and stores, Dido declined after the railroad bypassed it in the 1890s. Among the 1,000 graves here are those of many pioneer families. (1977)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Worth Stockyards — 14 mi
  The brick-street cattle market where Armour and Swift built packing plants in 1902, now a National Register district with a Coliseum, a museum and a longhorn drive twice a day.
• Kimbell Art Museum — 16 mi
  Louis Kahn's cycloid-vaulted museum of 1972, built from Kay Kimbell's bequest and joined in 2013 by Renzo Piano's pavilion for the exhibitions the Kahn galleries could not hold.
• National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame — 16 mi
  A hall of fame begun in Hereford in 1975 to honor rodeo women, widened in 1977 to Western heritage, and housed in Fort Worth's Cultural District since 2002.
• Tarrant County Courthouse — 16 mi
  A pink-granite courthouse of 1895 on the bluff where the Army set up Fort Worth in 1849, in a county named for the man who led the 1841 attack on the Native villages of Village Creek.

More markers nearby

• Site of First Post Office in Wise County, Odessa — 3.3 mi
• Kiowa Raid on Walnut Creek — 3.8 mi
• First Methodist Church of Azle — 5.2 mi
• Ash Creek Baptist Church — 5.7 mi