Mud Creek Cemetery

The 1926-27 boom remembered on this plaque capped a long search. Oil was first found in Brown County in 1879, and a small well was drilled on the H. M. Barnes farm near Grosvenor in 1900, but commercial production began only in 1917, with Jack Pippen's work at Brownwood. In 1926 a boom followed the success of the White well on Jim Ned Creek, and some 600 wells were drilled in several county fields. The Handbook of Texas says the Depression ended the boom as prices dropped. By 1991 county lands had yielded more than 50 million barrels.

What the plaque says

Named for nearby Mud Creek, this graveyard has served residents of the Thrifty and Fry communities for more than 100 years. The first person known to be buried at the site was infant Martha Blackwell, who died in 1864. However, a rock slab that bears an illegible name indicates the cemetery was used as early as 1862. Others buried in Mud Creek Cemetery include pioneer settler Charles Mullins (1790-1880) who brought his family to the area in 1858, victims of Indian attacks, and persons involved in the 1926-27 area oil boom. (1983)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 9.8 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

• Thrifty — 3.6 mi
• Bangs Public Schools — 8.0 mi
• First Baptist Church of Bangs — 8.3 mi
• Emma Daugherty Banister — 9.2 mi