Newberry Commuinity

Robert S. and Nancy Ann Porter settled on the fertile land in this area in 1855. Robert Porter became the first county judge for the newly organized Parker County the following year. Among their early neighbors were the Baker, Cowan, Dick, Dillard, Doss, Hemphill, Hightower, Johnson, Kidwell, Lane, Nevil, Newberry, Peters, Potter, Simpson, Strain and Witherspoon families.

The Brazos congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized on the fifth Sabbath in May 1868, near the town of Dennis. By 1871 many families had moved north to the Grindstone Creek area. Robert C. Newberry and his family hosted a Cumberland Presbyterian Church service in their home on April 23, 1871. The church became known as the Grindstone Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, meeting in members' homes until Jim D. Newberry gave land for a church and cemetery in 1874. The earliest marked grave in the cemetery is that of sixteen-year-old R. W. Newberry, son of R. C. Newberry, who drowned in the Brazos River in 1879.

A new frame building was erected for a church and school in 1880. The church became known as Newberry Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1892, and the community took the Newberry name, as well. A tabernacle was built in 1901 and the school was moved to this site in 1903. In 1929 the school was consolidated with the Millsap School District.

At the dawn of the 21st century, there were about 625 identified and 75 to 100 unidentified graves in the cemetery. Church meetings were held once a month. The Newberry church and cemetery remain as chronicles of those who shaped Parker County. (2000).