Historic Cemetery

Grover Cemetery

Fairfield, Texas 75840
Location: From Mexia, take the old “Mexia to Fairfield” road, a railroad track crosses this road at the old community of Simsboro, and continues 2-3 miles through the woods. There are many twists and turns of this road as well as a number of road exits to pasture land. This cemetery is between the RR track and the remains of a small black community. Additional location information: Go to Simsboro and turn east at the old store and go across the railroad and go .5 miles and you will see large pine trees on the right. Turn left here and go .25 miles to the 2 gates and back to the left.

Source: Freestone County Sheriff’s office by J. R. Sessions, Jr., Sheriff; Morrow, Betty Moss, THC Library

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