Historical Marker

West Salado Cemetery

Salado, Bell County · Texas
Erected 1990

West Salado is listed by the Texas Freedom Colonies Project as a settlement of people freed from slavery, with its founding year unknown and no community history written yet. The Project's version of the marker text says the 1879 deed for church, school and burial ground went to John Sanders, a freedman of color, from the wife of Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson. The plaque names Robertson himself. Jozie Fulbright, who died in 1877, is the earliest documented grave. The school and a church building that held up to three congregations are gone.

What the plaque says

West Salado Cemetery Located in an area populated by former slaves following the Civil War, this cemetery dates to the 1870s. The earliest documented grave is that of Jozie Fulbright, who died in 1877, although according to local oral tradition there may be earlier unmarked burials. The land was officially deeded by Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson for church, school, and graveyard purposes in 1879. While the community's school and two churches are no longer in existence, the cemetery remains as an important link with the area's early black history. (1990)

Where it stands

30.95818, -97.53652 · Directions

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