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Early African American pioneer Mose Jordan Sr. came to the Grand Prairie area as an enslaved person of David Jordan in 1852. As early as the late 1850s, this part of David Jordan's land was used as a cemetery for enslaved people of the Jordan Plantation. After the Civil War, the Jordans freed their remaining nine slaves in 1865 and divided fifty acres of land among them. Mose Sr., along with two other families, established Freetown also known as "The Line," a community of African Americans just east of Grand Prairie under what is now Mountain Creek Lake. When Mountain Creek Lake was impounded in the 1920s, the Freetown community resettled to Dalworth.
Antioch (Antioc) Cemetery was officially established in 1881 when 200 acres were sold to Charles O'Donnell with a provision that one acre be reserved for fencing in a graveyard and building a Catholic chapel. The cemetery was shown to be adjacent to the Jordan property slave cemetery. The Antioch Baptist Church was built on the property in 1891 and over time the two cemeteries became one, later known as Antioch St. John's Cemetery. An important early gathering place for the Freetown community, the Live Stone Masonic Lodge, was nearby.
There are various historic-age monuments throughout the 'Antioc' and 'Old Cemetery' sections. Many in the 'Old Cemetery' commemorate members of the Jordan family. One known burial is Mose Jordan (Jorden), Jr. These sections are surrounded by the new sections of what came to be known as American Memorial Park Cemetery. There are 89 known veterans buried in the cemetery who are recognized with ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Renamed in 2016 to honor its historical roots, Antioch Life Park Cemetery is the final resting place for many named and unnamed earliest members of the Freetown and Dalworth communities. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2018 |
