Historic Cemetery

Embryfield Cemetery

a.k.a. Jones Family Cemetery, Staley Community Cemetery

Coldspring, Texas 77331
Location: Formerly Staley community. Staley is on Farm Road 946 in northern San Jacinto County about ninety miles north of Houston. The Embryfield Cemetery (also known as the Jones Cemetery), can be reached by taking HWY 980 east out of Riverside to the 980 Spur, approximately 5-miles. It is located southwest on the south side of the main road, approximatley 100-yards. At the old homesite are beautiful cedars and very old crepe myrtle trees and a cistern underground. … Burial includes fatal family feud, after not being allowed to bury at Mt. Capers Cem. Jones Family allowed burials in their cem.. … There are about seven or eight graves surrounded by a heavy ornate iron fence. Only three graves are marked. Some may be outside of fence. Earliest about 1880s. Index of marked graves.”.

Source: Local history notes; THC intern notes; Parsons, Kim, Ref. to Texas Cemeteries, 1988; Handbook of Texas; San Jacinto County, Texas Historical Comm. San Jacinto County, Texas, Cemetery Records, 1997; San Jacinto County, Texas Historical Comm. San Jacin

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