Location: Fairview-McAlpine Cem.AKA Fairview Cemetery #2; McAlpine Cem.; Fairview-Whitehall Cem.—Recorded—Parsons. H&P, Grimes Co Hist.: Local hist. map, p. 86-8, “ 1st Richards orig called Normangee. Later moved town nearer railroad, new Richards… became large mercantile community in early 1900s. (1st) Richards was 2 miles E of major Bidai N-S thorough fare between E Tx and open country of West—used by Indians, Spanish, later settlers of what was to be Longstreet area, area of last Bidai Indian settlements … Mexican grants to settlers 1830s. …. area became section of Scott Plantation … slave quarters and later tenant houses were first dwellings in Richards … near what is now Johnnie Baranowski home. … Adjacent communities developed over time, Longstreet became known as toughest town in Texas … with saloons, racetrack, stores, sawmills. Other community more peaceful Fairview, early settlers buried in cem. …. Other nearb y communities of Unikon Grove, Appolonia, Bays Chapel. m … Tombstone, TxDoT map. GNIS on Richards map. SEE Cemeteries of Grimes County, vols 1-5 John Maxwell, GCHC.THC Site visit MB 4/19/04L Large formal site with THC subject marker for HTC. Arched entryway, steel gates. Entrance is Fairview Cem, HTC marker is McAlpine Cem. Off FM 362 on CR 305 for 0.5 mile. Access via pasture road, hilltop site visible from CR. Arched entryway, front and back. Orientation may have been different at earlier time. Formal, diversity of markers over time, large and small, some obelisks. US vets, CSA, Masonic. Marker Cedar trees, Pecans, Live Oaks. Marker shrubs include Pommegranite, Crape Myrtle, Irises. San Augustine grass. Vista to all directions, shaded, fenced. THC subject marker HTC by E entrance. Abundant floral grave materials. US veterans; CSA; WoW; Masonic. Mixed race burials. GPS 30.17.51.01318N –96.58.02.65956WQuad 3095-232Low endangerment: maintained, fenced, recent burials, 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.