To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Texas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Texas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 1/23/18 • Approved: 1/23/18 • Last Updated: 3/8/19 • R148947-G0-S3
Fairview Cemetery
Texas Historical Markers
710 Fair Avenue, Gainesville, TX, USA
Latitude & Longitude: 33° 37' 55.48792000008", -97° 7' 34.97580000012"
Texas State
Historical Marker
Originally the Howeth family cemetery, this site traces its history to 1854, when a tornado struck the Howeth family cabin near Gainesville. First buried here were Thomas and Louisa Howeth, young children of William and Harriet Bell Howeth. William Howeth deeded the ten-acre cemetery to Cooke county in 1868. In 1878 the Cooke County commissioners turned over the site to the city of Gainesville in a 999-year lease. A city ordinance reserved a section for freedmen. The cemetery's name was changed in 1897 to East Hill, and in 1904 the name was changed again to Fairview. A separate Jewish Cemetery adjoined this site from 1881 until 1964 when the two graveyards were combined. Among the estimated 18,000 graves are those of Civil War Veterans; Preston Conlee, a San Jacinto Battle veteran and Bastrop County sheriff who lies in an unmarked grave; 34 victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic; Bob Scott, ex-slave and centenarian; and former U.S. Senator Joseph Weldon Bailey. A chapel and Sexton's office, designed by Dallas architect Will Scott Richter, was constructed in 1938 at a cost of $6,296. The arched gate dates to 1964. This victorian-era cemetery continues to serve the city. (1997)
Contributed on 1/23/18
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 148947