Old Zion Cemetery

The county's burial survey keeps this cemetery's origin as stories. Some say a Mr. McCelvey buried his slaves here and gave the land for a church and graveyard; others say a Mr. Conner donated it. A family legend adds that snow lay on the ground in the winter of 1868 when William D. Harrison died, and that he was buried here because the family could not use their first choice. By that account only Black people and Native people ("Indians" in the survey) lay here before him. The church burned in the early 1900s.

What the plaque says

Old Zion Cemetery Although the origins of this cemetery are undocumented, local oral history indicates early settler James McCevey buried his slaves at this site. Other accounts say the cemetery was given by the descendants of pioneer Francis B. Connor. The earliest marked burials are those of Lewis Burton (1819-1864) and John Caddenhead (1816-1865). Caroline Payne (d. 1866) is interred on two acres given to the Old Zion Cemetery by her family. Oral history also maintains that William D. Harrison (1814-1868) was buried here because cold weather prevented his interment in Corinth Cemetery. Named for the Old Zion Church which once stood nearby, the cemetery contains 250 marked graves, including those of veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. (2000)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area — 3.0 mi
  A Davy Crockett National Forest lake of about 45 acres, built by the CCC in 1936 from a sawmill log pond, with a swimming beach, camping and the start of the 20-mile Four-C Trail.
• Mission Tejas State Park — 9.1 mi
  A 661-acre pine-forest park on the old El Camino Real near Weches, with a 1930s replica of the 1690 mission, the Rice Family Log Home and trails past remnants of the Spanish road.
• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 13 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.
• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 32 mi
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.

More markers nearby

• Community of Tadmor — 1.1 mi
• Four C Mill — 3.1 mi
• Ratcliff CCC Camp — 3.2 mi
• Hagerville Community — 3.2 mi