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LAND WAS BEING SURVEYED IN THE CHALK BLUFF COMMUNITY IN THE 1830s, THOUGH PERMANENT SETTLEMENT DATES TO THE 1850s. MISSOURI NATIVE LOUIS MOORE MOVED FROM ARKANSAS TO TEXAS ABOUT 1834, AND RECEIVED TITLE TO ONE-FOURTH OF A LEAGUE ON THE EAST BANK OF THE BRAZOS RIVER ABOVE THE WACO VILLAGE ON AUGUST 20, 1835. JOHN MOORE, SON OF LOUIS AND ELIZABETH MOORE, DIED IN 1858. THIS FIRST RECORDED FAMILY DEATH MAY BE THE FIRST BURIAL IN MOORE CEMETERY, BUT RECORDS ARE UNCLEAR. THE MOORES’ INFANT DAUGHTER DIED IN 1862 AND ELIZABETH DIED THE FOLLOWING YEAR. LOUIS BURIED THEM AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS ON TOP OF A HILL THAT WAS THE HIGHEST POINT OF HIS ESTATE. LOUIS DIED IN 1894 AND IS BURIED ALONGSIDE HIS FAMILY. THE MOORE FAMILY BURIAL GROUND EVENTUALLY EVOLVED INTO A COMMUNITY CEMETERY. IN 1921, THE MOORE SPRING CEMETERY ASSOCIATION FORMED WITH MRS. R. L. CARPENTER AS PRESIDENT. APPROXIMATELY THREE ACRES WERE FENCED AT THAT TIME; ALTHOUGH DEEDS INDICATE 16 ½ ACRES WERE DESIGNATED AS A GRAVEYARD. A HISTORIC METAL FENCE ENCASES THREE ROWS OF UNKNOWN GRAVES. HEADSTONES VARY FROM ERODED LIMESTONE MARKERS TO GRANITE, LIMESTONE AND MARBLE MARKERS. SEVERAL FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION MARKERS ARE PRESENT, AND MILITARY VETERANS FROM THE TEXAS REVOLUTION TO PRESENT ARE INTERRED HERE. THE CEMETERY NOW ENCOMPASSES MORE THAN 11 ACRES BOUNDED BY HOMES. THIS PEACEFUL BURIAL GROUND, SHADED BY OAKS ON A HILLSIDE SLOPE, IS A CONTINUUM OF CHALK BLUFF HISTORY FROM PIONEER TIMES TO THE PRESENT. |
