Springlake Cemetery

The town the cemetery served nearly became the county seat. In 1910 Olton beat Springlake in the county-seat election by a single vote. The town took its name from the XIT Ranch's Spring Lake Division, whose headquarters had kept a post office from 1889 to 1901. After Springlake moved southeast, a grain elevator and a flour mill were built there in the 1930s, and by 1950 it had 250 people. It slowly declined after that, reporting 131 residents and about twelve businesses in the early 1990s and 135 people in 2000.

What the plaque says

Springlake Cemetery This burial ground served the original residents of Springdale community. The area was opened for settlement in 1908 by the George C. Wright Land Company. It was named for the nearby Springlake Ranch. D. B. Shiftlet donated the first two acres for the cemetery. The first burial took place in 1909. Of the 356 known graves, five are unmarked. The community of Springlake was relocated in 1935, 4.75 miles southeast. The town once had a hotel, supply store, school and post office, but only the cemetery remains at the original site. (1980)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge — 34 mi
  The oldest national wildlife refuge in Texas, a ring of salt lakes in the sandhills south of Muleshoe where tens of thousands of sandhill cranes winter in a wet year.

More markers nearby

• Springlake-Earth School — 1.7 mi
• Earth — 5.1 mi
• The J. W. Carter Family and the 7-Up Ranch — 8.2 mi
• First Irrigation Well in Lamb County — 9.3 mi