Bold Springs Cemetery

ISAAC BUTLER “DOC” CAUBLE (1820-1904) BUILT A CABIN IN 1850 NEAR ONE OF SEVERAL FLOWING SPRINGS THAT WAS HOME TO GENERATIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS. CAUBLE’S YOUNG SON, JAMES, WAS A FRIEND TO A COMANCHE BOY WHO DIED AND WAS BURIED ON THE HILL NOW HOLDING THIS CEMETERY. OTHER EARLY SETTLERS INCLUDED THE FAMILIES OF CAREY BOULDS, JACOB CLOSNER, WALTER BENNETT, WILLIAM HURLOCK, AND THOMAS WEST. THE SPRING AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITY WAS KNOWN AS “BOULD SPRINGS” OR “BENNETT SPRINGS.” THE BOULD SPRINGS POST OFFICE OPENED IN BOULDS’ CABIN, WHICH SERVED AS A COMMUNITY GATHERING PLACE AND A PLACE FOR STAGECOACHES TO STOP AND CHANGE HORSES. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ESTABLISHED ROADS THROUGH BOLD SPRINGS LINKING WACO TO HILLSBORO, FROM HERE TO A LUMBER MILL ON AQUILLA CREEK AND ALSO TO A FAMILY GRAIN MILL ON THE BRAZOS RIVER. BOLD SPRINGS MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, FOUNDED IN 1858, WAS THE FIRST CHURCH IN NORTHEASTERN McLENNAN COUNTY. THE POPULATION NUMBERED 311 IN THE 1860 CENSUS, MAKING BOLD SPRINGS THE SECOND LARGEST TOWN IN THE COUNTY. IN 1881, SETTLEMENT SHIFTED TO THE NEW TOWN OF WEST, ESTABLISHED ON THE MISSOURI-KANSAS-TEXAS RAILROAD.

THE OLDEST KNOWN GRAVE MARKS MARY W. BAZE (JUL. 28, 1828 – JUN. 19, 1861). THE GENERAL LANDSCAPE IS TRADITIONAL, WITH GRAVES ORIENTED EAST-WEST AND THE OLDEST GRAVES IN THE CENTER SECTIONS. HERE ARE PIONEERS OF BOLD SPRINGS, MEMBERS OF FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND EARLY BUSINESS AND CIVIC LEADERS OF WEST. VETERANS OF CONFLICTS FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO PRESENT ARE AMONG THE MORE THAN 2,400 INTERRED. GRAVE MARKERS ARE OF GRANITE, MARBLE, METAL, LIMESTONE AND SANDSTONE. VEGETATION INCLUDES OAK TREES, CREPE MYRTLES, IRISES AND BLUEBONNETS. THE BOLD SPRINGS CEMETERY ASSOCIATION FORMED IN 1892 AND CONTINUES TO CARE FOR THIS HISTORIC REMINDER OF THE ONCE THRIVING BOLD SPRINGS COMMUNITY.