Historic Cemetery

Porter Springs Cemetery

Crockett, Texas 75835
Location: Porter Springs Cem (THC) 8 miles W from Crockett on SH 7, then 2.5 miles S on FM 132, then 1.2 miles N on CR(1977) take Hwy 7 out of Crockett to Porter Springs sign. At the store turn right and go 1.5 miles on a hard top road to the cemetery on a hill on the right. Cemetery is enclosed in a chain link fence.(1998) about 6 mi W of Crockett on TX 7 to a R onto FM 132 for 2.5 mi. Turn R onto CR 3070 for 1.5 mi. Cemetery is on the R.(cemeteries-of-tx.com) photos.THC marker; A Reference to Texas Cemetery Records, Kim Parsons, 1988; Houston County Cemeteries, Houston county Historical Commission, 1977; USGS; Supplement to Houston County Texas Cemeteries Third Edition, 1998; TexGenWeb; cemeteries-of-tx.com; topo mapTSHA Handbook of Texas online: PORTER SPRINGS, TEXAS. Porter Springs (Porter's Springs), at the junction of Farm roads 2967 and 132, ten miles southwest of Crockett in western Houston County, was settled just before the Civil War.qv A school was founded there around 1870, and the first church, the Bethlehem Baptist Church, was organized before 1877. A post office was established in 1895 and named for postmaster James McIntosh Porter. By 1896 Porter Springs had two churches, a general store, a public school, a cotton gin, a drugstore, and an estimated population of fifty. During the mid-1930s Porter Springs consisted of three churches, schools for black students and for white, and several businesses; the estimated population in 1936 was fifty. After World War IIqv the school was closed, but the population was reported at fifty through 1990. In the early 1990s Porter Springs was a dispersed rural community with three churches, a high school, an elementary school, a cemetery, and number of houses. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Armistead Albert Aldrich, The History of Houston County, Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1943). Houston County Historical Commission, History of Houston County, Texas, 1687-1979 (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Heritage, 1979). Eliza H. Bishop THC site visit MB 10-28-04: On CR 3070 about 1.1 miles N of SH 7. Large fenced formal site, formal brick column entrance and perimeter fencing. Arched entryway, THC markers. Hilltop. Some Cedar and Oak marker trees. San Augustine grass. Landscape maintenance. Considerable diversity of formal markers over time. Obelisks, curbing, slabs, some fieldstones. No grave plantings. Some floral grave materials. Pavillion. Adjacent to woodlands and pond. Porter Springs Cem (THC) 8 miles W from Crockett on SH 7, then 2.5 miles S on FM 132, then 1.2 miles N on CR(1977) take Hwy 7 out of Crockett to Porter Springs sign. At the store turn right and go 1.5 miles on a hard top road to the cemetery on a hill on the right. Cemetery is enclosed in a chain link fence.(1998) about 6 mi W of Crockett on TX 7 to a R onto FM 132 for 2.5 mi. Turn R onto CR 3070 for 1.5 mi. Cemetery is on the R.(cemeteries-of-tx.com) photos.HbTx:PORTER SPRINGS, TEXAS. Porter Springs (Porter's Springs), at the junction of Farm roads 2967 and 132, ten miles southwest of Crockett in western Houston County, was settled just before the Civil War.qv A school was founded there around 1870, and the first church, the Bethlehem Baptist Church, was organized before 1877. A post office was established in 1895 and named for postmaster James McIntosh Porter. By 1896 Porter Springs had two churches, a general store, a public school, a cotton gin, a drugstore, and an estimated population of fifty. During the mid-1930s Porter Springs consisted of three churches, schools for black students and for white, and several businesses; the estimated population in 1936 was fifty. After World War IIqv the school was closed, but the population was reported at fifty through 1990. In the early 1990s Porter Springs was a dispersed rural community with three churches, a high school, an elementary school, a cemetery, and number of houses. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Armistead Albert Aldrich, The History of Houston County, Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1943). Houston County Historical Commission, History of Houston County, Texas, 1687-1979 (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Heritage, 1979). Eliza H. Bishop THC site visit MB 10-28-04: On CR 3070 about 1.1 miles N of SH 7. Large fenced formal site, formal brick column entrance and perimeter fencing. Arched entryway, THC markers. Hilltop. Some Cedar and Oak marker trees. San Augustine grass. Landscape maintenance. Considerable diversity of formal markers over time. Obelisks, curbing, slabs, some fieldstones. No grave plantings. Some floral grave materials. Pavillion. Adjacent to woodlands and pond. Approx 2.37 acres. GPS 31.16.42.35238N -95.37.33.85612WQuad 3195-242Low risk of endangerment, fenced, maintained, still in use, THC markers, on map. Low risk of endangerment, fenced, maintained, still in use, THC markers, on map.

To address the problem of cemetery destruction and to record as many cemeteries as possible, the Texas Historical Commission offers the Historic Texas Cemetery designation.

The Historic Texas Cemetery designation was developed in 1998 to help protect historic cemeteries by recording cemetery boundaries in county deed records to alert present and future owners of land adjacent to the cemetery of its existence. Every county in Texas has at least one cemetery designated as a Historic Texas Cemetery through this program. The HTC designation is the first step toward preservation of a historic cemetery.

A cemetery is eligible for designation if it is at least 50 years old and is deemed worthy of recognition for its historical associations. The very nature of a cemetery being a landmark of a family’s or community’s presence is considered to validate the criteria of historical associations. Any individual, organization, or agency may submit a request for designation.