Historical Marker

Foster Cemetery

Historical marker location:
SH 163 S of Sterling City about 5.2 mi., Sterling City, Texas
( From Sterling City, take SH 163 south about 5.2 miles to Foster Cemetery)
Marker installed: 1984

The Foster Cemetery originally was part of the ranch land owned by Robert West and Fannie B. Foster, early settlers and prominent civic leaders in the area. Their infant daughter, Fay, was the first to be buried at the site in 1883.

Over the years, numerous prominent Sterling County citizens have been buried in the public graveyard. Included among those are R. W. Foster and his brother, William Lenard, who served on the first Sterling County Commissioners Court; Ethel Foster, a former president of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs; Rufus West Foster and John Walraven, former mayors of Sterling City; early ranchers Newel C. Hodges, W. E. Brownfield, James W. Reynolds, and A. Carper; and saloon keeper and cattle inspector Frank C. Sparkman.

For more than one hundred years the cemetery has served the Foster family and citizens from all parts of Sterling County. Now consisting of approximately 3.5 acres, the graveyard is maintained by the Foster Cemetery Association.

With historic ties to the formative years of Sterling County, Foster Cemetery is a good example of a pioneer graveyard.