Oak Grove Community

Historical marker location:

Gainesville, Texas

( 7 mi. E on FM 678, 0.3 mi. S on CR 219)

Marker installed: 2005

In the 1860s, George Sanford Norrid left his Missouri home with his wife, Tabitha, and family and moved to Texas, settling in this area and offering their home for church services. In 1875, F.M. Dougherty and George Norrid deeded land for a Methodist Epsicopal church; Norrid's donation preserved land for a cemetery. When Tabitha Norrid died in January 1876, she was the first buried in what became the Oak Grove Cemetery. Area families used the church building for school and worship until 1884, when they moved the building, and with it the school and church, to nearby Woodbine. The Methodist church later deeded its land to the cemetery association, which maintains the burial ground. (2005).

gravesites settlements

In the late 19th century, Texas became known for its cattle drives, in which cowboys would move herds of cattle from Texas to railheads in Kansas and other northern states. The cattle drives were dangerous and difficult work, but they played a key role in the development of the American cattle industry.