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Mitchell Cemetery
Fort Worth, Texas
2nd Oldest Known Cemetery in Tarrant County
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Photos by Rob Yoder - 2003
| Ordinarily, I would have led off this page with a photo of the historical marker or the cemetery's sign, however, this one has no sign and the historic marker has been stolen. The first burial took place in 1848. Although this is the oldest known cemetery in Fort Worth today, the city did not stretch out this far for many years. This is nearly three whole miles north of the bluff where the town got its start. Pioneers Rest holds title to Fort Worth's First Cemetery and Oakwood comes in at number two. |
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| The Mitchell Cemetery can be found behind the Fort Worth Grain
Exchange located at the intersection of NE 28th Street and Decatur Avenue,
near the Historic Stockyards in north Fort Worth. To find the cemetery, walk
to the back of the building by crossing the lawn on the right. But first...
if your visiting during business hours, you'll probably want to go inside
and ask for C.G. Mathews, Executive Vice President. Let him know you want
to cross his property to reach the cemetery and he'll probably find time
to tell you all about it.
I recommend that you wear rugged boots and long denim jeans on your visit. It's a short hike, but the weeds and undergrowth are thick. I was fortunate that a grass fire partly cleaned the area just two weeks prior to my trek. The fire department stopped it just a few feet short of the headstones. |
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View of the Grain Exchange from the railroad tracks. When you get back here, position yourself just about 10 feet south of the northwest corner of the building and then face due west. |
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Look both ways before crossing the tracks! |
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Looking west again from the tracks About 30 to 35 feet due west of where you are standing, you will see the tree line, paralleling the tracks. Walk straight ahead, toward the largest tree, about 6 inches in diameter. |
There they are, right at the tree line. You won't see them until you are right on top of them, Seaborne Gilmore's headstone (lying flat) and a round stone that Mr. Mathews says contains some hand carved lettering. |
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Seaborne Gilmore, 1801 - 1867 Sgt Co. B 4 ILL Inf. Mexican War |
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Tarrant County TXGenWeb |
This page last modified on 20 Feb 2004.
