| Marker Text |
Among the early settlers of this area were Joseph and William Arledge, brothers who arrived from Alabama in the 1850s. Both established successful farms in the area, and the growing settlement became known as Arledge Ridge. Joseph Arledge operated one of the earliest freight lines in Fannin County, with regular routes to the port city of Jefferson. William Arledge established a cotton gin in the central part of the county and later sold an acre of land to be used for a community school and church. A tract of land, deeded by William Arledge in 1876, was designated as a community burial ground. According to local tradition, burials may have taken place in the cemetery as early as the 1840s, but the oldest documented grave is that of Joseph Arledge who died in 1855. Interred in the Arledge Ridge Cemetery are many early settlers, as well as a number of Civil War veterans. Additional land acquisitions in 1893, 1948, and 1965 enlarged the cemetery tract. The Arledge Ridge Cemetery Association, organized in 1948, maintains the historic graveyard and sponsors an annual homecoming event. |
