top of page

My Items

I'm a title. ​Click here to edit me.

Village Creek

Village Creek

Archeological excavations along the course of this Trinity River tributary have unearthed evidence of several prehistoric villages. Artifacts from the area date back almost 9,000 years and represent a culture of food-gatherers and hunters. In the 1830s the Creek served as a sanctuary for several Indian tribes who made frequent raids on frontier settlements. The conflict grew worse in 1841 when major attacks were reported in Fannin and Red River Counties. Brigadier General Edward H. Tarrant (1796-1858) of the Republic of Texas Militia led a company of volunteers in a punitive expedition against Indian villages in this area. On May 24, 1841, following brief skirmishes at several encampments, two scouting patrols were attacked near the mouth of the Creek and retreated to the main camp. Reportedly twelve Indians and one soldier, Captain John B. Denton, were killed. As a result of the Battle of Village Creek, many tribes began moving west. Others were later removed under terms of the 1843 Treaty signed at Bird's Fort (10 mi. NE) which opened the area to colonization. Much of the battle site is now located beneath the waters of Lake Arlington.

Tomlin Cemetery

Tomlin Cemetery

This cemetery was first used in the 1870s by the Wilkinsons, a pioneer family whose graves are marked by clusters of rock. Members of the Angel family are also buried here. The oldest dated gravestone is that of Virginia native Soloman Tomlin (b. 1825), a horseman and farmer who migrated with his family to Texas in the 1860s. He died on July 9, 1884. His son James Tives "Buck" Tomlin (1852-1934), a noted breeder of fine racing horses, bought the cemetery property in 1888. It has since been designated to serve the descendants of the Tomlin Family.

Middleton Tate Johnson

Middleton Tate Johnson

The Father of Tarrant County. A member of the Congress of the Republic. Born in South Carolina, 1810. Died at Austin, Texas, May 15, 1866. Johnson County was named in his honor.

Marrow Bone Spring

Marrow Bone Spring

An Indian habitat in the 1700s or earlier, Marrow Bone Spring in 1843 was visited by President Sam Houston's envoys seeking peace. A trading post licensed by the Texas Republic opened in 1845 near the Spring. Hiram Blackwell of the Peters Colony pioneered here before 1848. Soldier-statesman Middleton Tate Johnson (1810-1866) posted troops nearby in the late 1840s. The first Post Office in Tarrant County opened on Oct. 31, 1851, at Johnson's Station. In 1852 Blackwell sold Johnson his rights to land surrounding the spring. The Village of Johnson's Station flourished for many years. (1979)

Fielder House

Fielder House

Local landowner and community leader James Park Fielder (d. 1948) and his wife Mattie (Barnes) (d. 1950) erected this house in 1914, using steel lathing and other innovative techniques. The brick Prairie style structure had a large basement to provide storage space for the fruits and vegetables grown on surrounding acreage. Known as "The Home on the Hill," the Fielder residence was a popular gathering place and a landmark for citizens of Arlington. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1979

Arlington Cemetery

Arlington Cemetery

Encompassing more than ten acres of land, Arlington Cemetery includes within its borders several small historic graveyards, including the original old cemetery of Arlington, the W. W. McNatt Cemetery addition, the Masonic Cemetery, and the Old City Cemetery. William W. McNatt, who brought his family here from Arkansas in 1872, was a retail merchant and large scale farmer in this area. He sold the cemetery property to the Arlington Cemetery Society in 1899. Another group, the Arlington Cemetery Association, was chartered in 1923 and maintained the graveyard for many years until the City of Arlington assumed ownership and maintenance. The oldest documented burial here is that of one-year-old Mattie Luna Cooper (1874-75), daughter of pioneer Arlington settlers J. D. and Luna A. Cooper. Numerous other early settlers also are buried here, as are veterans of conflicts from the Civil War to World War II. Local officials interred in the graveyard include at least seven former postmasters and the following former mayors: M. J. Brinson, George M. Finger, Emmett E. Rankin, Williams C. Weeks, Thomas B. Collins, T. G. Bailey, W. H. Davis, Preston F. McKee, William H. Rose, Will G. Hiett and Harold E. Patterson.

Rehoboth Cemetery

Rehoboth Cemetery

The Rehoboth Cemetery began in 1871 with the burial of infant Mary Miller. The cemetery served the community of Sublett, named after John Sublett. The town consisted of a school, post office and church. The one-room schoolhouse, also used by the Rehoboth Baptist Church, once stood next to the cemetery. The 2.5 acre site contains more than 500 graves, although many of the headstones are illegible. Among those buried here are pioneer settlers and their descendants. Formed in 1970, the Rehoboth Cemetery Association maintains the site, which continues to serve the area. (1997)

Hawkins Cemetery

Hawkins Cemetery

Named for Harvey Hawkins (1804-1869), a pioneer settler who came to Texas from Tennessee and first settled in Rusk County, the Hawkins Cemetery is the final resting place for families of the Tate Springs community. In 1848, Hawkins married Mary Ann Elizabeth (Elliott) Hitt Turner (1817-1868) and they later traveled by wagon to what would become Tarrant County. A preemptive land grand was issued to Hawkins for 160 acres in Tarrant County by Sam Houston, governor of the State of Texas, in January 1860. The cemetery began as a family plot located in the center of the property where the Hawkins couple and their children are buried. According to legend, a slave named Poly Penn was the first burial. No gravestone has been found but the location was marked on an early map. The earliest marked gravesite is that of Mary Hawkins in 1868. Rebekah Hawkins, Mary's daughter, married Jason Bryant Little before moving with her family to Tarrant County and settled near the Hawkins family. After Jason returned from fighting in the Civil War, they opened an elementary school. Their home was used as a stage coach stop on the Star Mail Route from Johnson Station, Texas to Fort Worth. A large arched monument stands at the north end of the cemetery, marking the gravesites of Rebekah, Jason and their families. In 1890, property owner George W. Kee sold the cemetery grounds to the community for use as a public burial ground. The Kee family is buried on the norther section of the cemetery. Additional acreage was acquired in 1919 from the Edwards and Tunnell families. Members of the community established a Cemetery Association in 1949 to maintain the cemetery and its records. Hawkins Cemetery chronicles the pioneer families that settled the area in the mid-1800s. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2015

Tate Springs Baptist Church

Tate Springs Baptist Church

Prior to the formation of area churches, worship services were conducted at camp meetings on Village Creek. On Feb. 5, 1882, ten local residents met to organize the Tate Springs Baptist Church. Presiding over the meeting were elders M.T. Walker and D.B. Brown. The Joplin Schoolhouse (1 mi. E), located on land donated by E.C. Tate, served as the first chapel. The church moved to this site in 1895 and became the center of the rural settlement. A leader in community activities, Tate Springs Baptist Church experienced rapid growth in the 1970s as a result of nearby urban development.

Tate Cemetery

Tate Cemetery

Evan Calloway Tate (1832-1885) brought his family to this area from Georgia in 1870, establishing the Tate Springs community. Land for this cemetery was deeded to the community by Tate heirs in 1894. At that time there were four marked burials, those of E. C. Tate and three of his children. Other members of the Tate family and the Tate Springs community were later interred here. Many of the graves are unmarked. Care of the cemetery was entrusted in later years to family members of those buried here. A fence and entry arch were erected in 1965. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Johnson Station Cemetery

Johnson Station Cemetery

Now part of Arlington, this area was established in the 1840s as a ranger station and trading post known as Johnson Station. This cemetery serves as a reminder of that early settlement. The oldest marked grave in the cemetery is that of Elizabeth Robinson, who died November 15, 1863. A number of unmarked graves may date from an earlier time period. A variety of gravestone styles may be found here, marking the burial sites of pioneer settlers, veterans of the Civil War, and charter members of an early Masonic Lodge. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.

Woods Chapel Baptist Church

Woods Chapel Baptist Church

�On April 28, 1901, a group of worshippers gathered together in a brush arbor to organize a church congregation. Led by the Rev. Washington Lafayette Wood, a missionary who had arrived in Tarrant County from Alabama in 1891, the members immediately began the task of building a sanctuary on land donated by Sam McMurray. A small white frame structure was dedicated at this site in November 1901 and the church was named for the Rev. Mr. Wood. Worship services were conducted on both Saturdays and Sundays until 1910. Baptismal services were held in the nearby Rush and Village Creeks until 1912, when the congregation began to use a stock tank on the property of church member Will Moore. In 1928 the congregation called its first full-time Pastor, the Rev. C.W. Walton. Additional property was purchased in 1937, and an educational building was erected. The Rev. Mr. Walton continued to lead the congregation through the difficult years of the Depression, serving as Pastor until his death in 1941. The church continued to grow over the years. A new sanctuary, built in 1948, is still in use as a chapel for special services.�

bottom of page