Texas Historical Cemetery

We also have a Historic Texas Cemetery designation marker that was awarded by the State of Texas Historical Commission in 2007.

Kyle Gerron (who has many family members interred here) did the work needed to be awarded this designation as part of his Eagle Scout project.

The text of the marker is below:

Elm Branch Cemetery

The rural community of Elm Branch

served as a social, economic and

religious center for the scattered

farming families who lived in the area.

The settlement contained a school, a

Methodist church founded in 1886, and

a cemetery. The church relocated to

Bardwell in 1909, approximately two

miles north of Elm Branch. The earliest

documented burial in Elm Branch

Cemetery is that of Martha R. Tidwell,

who died on November 28, 1877.

Veterans dating from the Civil War to

the Vietnam War are interred at the site,

which has also been known as

Bardwell Cemetery and Matlock

Cemetery. Today, the cemetery remains

active and continues as a reminder of

the early settlers of the area.