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Cemetery in Mayfield
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Prior to the Civil
War, the region was already establishing a ranching
industry. After the war, permanent settlers arrived from other Southern
states, congregating around the water provided by Hackberry Creek.
Several communities-in-the-making vied to become dominant. These included
McDonald, Prairiedale, and Loveless
- a community not taken seriously when it was sometimes called Frog
Liver.
Prairiedale was a likely winner, but when its Baptist Church was physically
moved to Mayfield, it gave Mayfield the advantage. Finally, in 1912,
the communities consolidated their schools - at Mayfield.
As for the naming of Mayfield, it is said that when the railroad (The
Trinity and Brazos Valley) arrived in 1904, the railroad had already
used up the names of executives and railroad personnel and were forced
to honor a local. Since the Trinity and Brazos had a spur designated
for shipping cotton, they named
it after John Mayfield, the worker who was present when they were
choosing a name.
The Mayfield school became a community center after the mid-1950s.
Mayfield's store, gas station and gin also shuttered in the 1950s,
creating a death spiral that was irreversible. By the 1980s, Mayfield
had become "a dispersed rural community" with no discernable center.
Although no high water mark was recorded, the 2000 census count of
12 - and the fact that it was once an amalgam of three communities,
pushed Mayfield into the Ghost
Town category. |
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Photographer's
Note:
I wanted to share some photos with you of a cemetery that has no name.
It's located in the middle of a corn field, between Hillsboro
and Osceola, in a town of Mayfield.
- Jen
Basham, February 28, 2018 |
Approaching the
cemetery in Mayfield
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Confederate tombstone
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Tombstone
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Tombstone
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Tombstone
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Tombstone
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Tombstone
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Broken tombstone
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
Tombstone by
the cemetery cast iron fence
Photos courtesy of Jen
Basham, February 2018 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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