Historic Cemetery

Coats-Paschall Cemetery

a.k.a. Coats; includes Franklin-Galloway

Sunnyvale, Texas
Location: Driving Directions:From west-bound access road of US 80, go 0.2 mile north on East Fork Rd. Turn right at Pecan Dr. and go 0.3 mile east to end of road. Cemetery is approximately 615 ft. north-northwest of the Galloway house, which is a Texas Historic Landmark.This cemetery is not a map feature. It is fully fenced and maintained, and it is located on private property. One must past through a security gate to access the cemetery. The majority of the cemetery features appear to be intact and in place. However, there are a couple of broken headstones due to fallen tree limbs. The current residents have started a their own family cemetery adjacent to the Coats-Paschall Cemetery. This new section is called the Franklin-Galloway Cemetery. At the time of the survey, the new addition contained one grave that dates to the 1990s, and there were plans for more family burials. A member of the Galloway family, who lives on the property, is a cemetery preservationist, so the cemetery will likely be well protected in the future.

Source: RIP Fields Table

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.

gravesites