Historic Cemetery

Zimmerman Singletary Cemetery

Soda, Texas
Location: Zimmerman-Singletary Cemetery Polk Co Tx Cem/website: “Near Soda. Small fenced cemetery about 15' x 20' with single stone containing all information. Cemetery is located near the Zimmerman home in Soda. 7 graves, earliest 1861.” Rootsweb/Town Name: “Soda settled by farmers in 1860s, sawmill 1897, postoffice named Soda.” L. Moore: “From Livingston. Hwy 190 E 7.1 miles, left 1.6 miles, left 1.8 miles, left behind home.” THC site visit MB 7-28-05 w/ R. D. Hendrix: SH 190 E to Darden Rd for 1.7 miles to Kelley Rd, L for 1.3 miles to Y, continue left another 0.7 mile to 2067 Kelley Rd, driveway and thru pasture gate, to area on other side of pond, abt. 0.35 mile. Site is approx __ ft. from pond, __ ft. from house, road. Small fenced site, encroached by woodlands on three sides, open to pasture on E. One formal commercial marker for burials. GPS PENDING 3094-324Moderate to high risk endangerment, fenced, but remote, difficult access, recent freegrowth shrubs, no recent maintenenace, no evidence of visitation.

Source: RIP Fields Table

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.

gravesites