The Texas Spirit Quest
is a series of Caches placed by many individuals, near cemeteries and historic sites in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that have ‘walked’ before us.
There are hundreds of cemeteries in the rural communities across Texas. This series will introduce you to many of them. The cache pages will provide a virtual history tour of the cemeteries, tombstones and local lore.
PLEASE NOTE: You will have to ascend a walkway between two houses to reach this cache. Do NOT seek this one after dark, and be as discreet as possible.
Online records are very scarce for this site. Evidently, this lost graveyard was rediscovered during development of the subdivision back in 1984. It existed at least as far back as 1916, when victims of a nearby smallpox hospital were buried here. In origin, it seems to have been an African-American cemetery. Scans by ground-penetrating radar suggest that there may be as many as 46 interments here. However, while at some point in the recent past there as at least one fragmentary headstone, now there just seems to be a pile of rubble. No names of the decedents or dates of birth or death appear to be available.
To access this cache, go straight up the concrete walkway all the way to the top. At the end there is a scrubby enclosure surrounded by a black metal fence. Enter the cemetery through the unlocked gate, though there is not much to see. The cache is hidden in the far corner. If you look through the fence to the tree-covered lot, you will see at least one headstone on the other side. This is a BONUS cemetery--evidently, formally it's not part of the Jackson Family Cemetery but rather is called Nathan Woods. As always--any refinements to the listed coordinates are welcomed.