Historical Marker

Cataline Cemetery

The Cataline community predates Hemphill County’s organization. Families moving to this area established the county’s first school (1885) and church (1887). A post office opened in Feb. 1887, five months before the county organized. In March 1896, infant Emma Turner died, and a small hill with a view to the Washita River Valley was chosen for her burial. The Methodist Episcopal Church bought three acres from the state of Texas to officially establish the community burial ground in July 1896. The site attests to hardships in a remote community; burials here include nine children under age one. The cemetery, which features granite and iron gravestones and interior fencing, remains as the last historic vestige of Cataline.