Swift Cemetery

Seth Swift named his settlement for his birthplace, Salem, Massachusetts, the Handbook of Texas says. Refugees from Jasper County sheltered at Salem during the Runaway Scrape, and a post office was open by 1839. The ferry landing sat at the mouth of Big Cow Creek on the road to Opelousas. Salem peaked in the 1880s as a river-trade center, when George Adams and the Cow Creek Tram Company floated logs down the Sabine to Orange. The post office closed in 1897, but the ferry kept running until 1937.

What the plaque says

Swift Cemetery The trading village of Salem was founded in 1835 by Seth Swift. A Quaker and whaling merchant, Swift had moved to this area from Massachusetts with his wife, Lydia, and six children. When Lydia died about 1852, Swift set aside an acre of land for a cemetery. Upon his death in 1869, Swift was buried beside his wife in a pink marble casket he had brought from Massachusetts. Several other members of the community are believed to be interred in the cemetery, as well. Lost to forest overgrowth for many years, the graveyard has been restored. (1988)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Martin Dies, Jr. State Park — 31 mi
  A 705-acre state park on Steinhagen Reservoir at the meeting of the Neches and Angelina rivers, with about 14 miles of paddling trails through sloughs and more than 200 campsites.
• Village Creek State Park — 33 mi
  A 2,466-acre state park on one of the few free-flowing creeks in Texas, with a launch for the Village Creek Paddling Trail, boat rentals and sandy-upland trails in the Big Thicket.

More markers nearby

• Biloxi Community — 4.1 mi
• Kirbyville, Town of, Site of Town Lot Auction — 8.2 mi
• Early Kirbyville Schools — 8.4 mi
• Bon Wier — 13 mi