Location: Sykes-Laura Cemetery AKA Schyler Sykes Family Polk Co Tx Cem/website: lists as off Hwy 190 W, no descript. L. Moore: “wife of Skilas Sikes, 100 yards N of Nelson Home. (See Smith Cem.)” [Hwy 190 W 6.4 miles, left 0.3 mile, right 0.5 mile, S of Nelson home.]Near Smith Cem. Laura Sykes Cemetery Submitted by Cannon Pritchard, June 2004Location: At the intersection of US Highway 190 and Farm Road 350 go south on FR 350 for 4.9 miles to intersection with FR 3126. Go south on FR 3126 for 1.5 miles to a locked gate on the right side of the road. A sign above the gate states "In Memory of R.S. & Laura Sykes". The grave is about 100 yards north of the old Nelson house behind the gate. This property is heavily wooded and is about .5 miles east of Lake Livingston. R. Schyler Sykes Family lived on property almost directly across the highway from the Garner Prairie Chapel on Farm Road 3126. R. Schyler Sykes, born in 1874, was the son of Owen & Flora Sykes. He married Laura Qualls (Sykes), daughter of Henry Qualls & Julia Jackson (Qualls) about 1909. The 1930 U. S. Census for Polk County shows they had the following children: John H. Sykes, b. 1910; Novells Sykes, b. 1911; Julia Sykes, b. 1913; Estelle Sykes, b. 1916; Arlee Sykes, b. 1918; and Fineal Sykes, b. 1923. About 100 yards north of the abandoned old homeplace is the burial marker for Laura Sykes:THC site visit MB 7-19-05 w/ C PritchardGPS and NOTES PENDING3095-414.
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.