MARKER DEDICATION CEREMONY SLATED

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A historical marker dedication ceremony will be held at the Bluff Creek Cemetery at 1 p.m. May 5 at the cemetery which is located at Hwy. 190 East on Darden Road in Livingston. The Bluff Creek Cemetery was designated as a Texas Historic Cemetery in 2008 and the cemetery association continues to preserve the still active cemetery with pride and dignity. The cemetery is well maintained by the Bluff Creek Cemetery Association and the Official Texas Historical Marker will serve as a permanent recognition of the contributions and service which were made to the community, state and country. On Jan. 21, 1884, John Singletary accepted $1 for an acre of his land on the east bank of Menard Creek near the Soda Community to be used as the site for a school building. In July of 1890 on the Rubin Barber Survey in Polk County Texas, Soda Community, the Bluff Creek Cemetery was carved out of 80 acres that belonged to Lucy Stargill and family. Stargill’s heir sold the property to the Bluff Creek School Community. Three of the trustees were Will Tullos, Jesse Richardson and Wade Morrison. The school was used as a church and the cemetery was established. In 1897, there were 50 or more graves in the cemetery when David C. Walker, George A. Harrell, Mike McKim and John Walker went together and bought the land to establish a public burial ground. In 1980, the Bluff Creek Cemetery Committee Members – Ileadus Harrell, Paul Harrell, Harrell D. Walker, Doc Rutledge, Wallace Walker and Bill Gray – purchased 10 more areas to submit incorporation for Bluff Creek Cemetery Inc. under the Non-Profit Corporation Act on Aug. 13, 1980. The first president of the Bluff Creek Cemetery Association was Ileadus (Bill) Harrell.