Salado Cemetery & Old Salado Grave Yard History (SITE 9)
This graveyard, a 2.5-acre site given by E. S. C. Robertson, is the final resting place for many prominent Salado residents. Many of the gravesites have Texas Historical Commission Markers. The earliest marked burial site is 1856. Oral tradition indicates there were others buried there prior to then, but those earlier burials are not marked or documented. Stones throughout this section of the graveyard mark old burial sites since carved markers were not readily available. Marble was used as a common marker in later years since it was easy to carve and was imported from other states.
Veterans buried here served in the Texas Revolution, Mexican War, Indian Wars, Civil War (Confederate and one Union soldier), Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War. The cemetery is community-owned and governed by the Salado Cemetery Association, chartered by the State. Ten Texas Historical Commission Subject Markers commemorating the lives early pioneers are in the cemetery. Additional land was purchased and donated over the years and a permanent endowment fund exists for the care and maintenance of this resting place for generations of Salado citizens. Donations by the C.B. Hodge family, Rose family, and the Friends of the Cemetery have expanded the cemetery over the years to its present size. A Memorial Day service is conducted every year to honor veterans buried in Salado Cemetery. The Salado Historical Society presents a program where re-enactors portray early pioneers by telling their stories at their grave site. (THC)
Bill Kinnison
President SHS
West Salado Cemetery (SITE 39)
West Salado Cemetery was designated a Texas State Historic Cemetery in 1990. The cemetery is located in an area populated by the Blacks residents of Salado following the Civil War. The cemetery dates to the 1870s. The earliest documented grave is that of Josie Fulbright, who died in 1877, although according to local oral history there may be earlier unmarked burials. E. S. C. Robertson’s widow deeded the land for church, school, and graveyard purposes. While the community’s school and two churches are no longer in existence, the cemetery remains an important link with the area’s early black history. (THC)
Bell Plains Cemetery
Bell Plains was once a rich and prosperous town. The cemetery was where the town's earliest inhabitants were laid to rest. The town of Belle Plain was established in 1870, but was abandoned within 25 years. History tells of an old indian burial site at the back of the cemetery. Bell Plains Cemetery is on Armstrong Rd, just north of Barnes Rd. Take FM 2268 east from I-35 in Salado and turn left on Armstrong Rd.
Hamblen-Aiken Cemetery (SITE 33)
Located at 400 N. Main St., was designated as a Texas State Historical Cemetery in 2020. It is also known as the Hamblin-Aiken Cemetery. It is on .03 acres of land behind the Salado School District Administration building also known as the red school house. It was created in 1932 from the will of Alice Hamblin who set aside the land which is also the site she donated for the Salado Public School in 1924. Also, on this site are two log cabins moved to this site by the Salado Historical Society. The cemetery is maintained by the Salado Historic Society. For more about Alice Hamblin, see entry titled “Early Pioneers” on this web site. (THC)
Willingham Cemetery
Willingham Cemetery. Located west of Salado on FM 2843 approximately 5.5 miles west from IH-35, on right. It is a Historic Texas Cemetery designation in 2003. Willingham family members were original settlers at Salado Springs (Salado) in the early 1850s. They eventually moved a few miles west and established a successful stock farm operation. Patriarch Archibald Willingham (1786-1857), a Georgian by birth and a veteran of the war of 1812, was the first to be buried in the family cemetery on their land. His wife, Ellener (Belcher), and their son, Sterling Andrew Jackson Willingham, are also buried in the cemetery. The cemetery is also known as Three Chimneys after the family home that was nearby. Willingham family members still live in Salado and maintain the cemetery.
Willingham Springs Baptist Church. Also on this site is the Willingham Springs Baptist Church organized in 1911 with the aid of Brother Cullam, pastor of Prairie Dell Methodist Church. Local farmer Wilson Willingham deeded property on this site. Oral history relates that Hanna Elizabeth "Grandma" Kidd Myers drove the first nail in the new church building. Area farmers Jim and Bennie Brooks, John and Zola Kidd Lankford, Mart and Minnie Brinegar Van Dyke, H. L. and Clemie Kidd Thomas, and Author and Eula Housewright helped build the structure, which was completed in 1914 and also served as a community schoolhouse until 1937. The church was closed in 1941, but was revitalized in the early 1950s and again in the 1990s. Registered Texas Historic Landmark in 1998.
