*HISTORICAL STATEMENT,  - Collin County, Texas |  *HISTORICAL STATEMENT - Texas Gravestone Photos

*HISTORICAL STATEMENT

Baccus Cemetery
Collin County,
Texas

Located on the north side of Legacy Dr between Parkwood Blvd and Dallas North Tollway at 7485 Bishop Rd, Plano, Collin County, Texas.
GPS Coordinates: 33deg 04min 44.30sec N & 96deg 49min 17.92sec W

BACCUS CEMETERY
(1847 - PRESENT)
This cemetery was originally known as Cook Cemetery. Henry Cook founded the cemetery on his property to bury his son, Daniel, who died January 13, 1847. This is the earliest known marked burial in Plano.

Henry Cook (1775 - 1862) settled in the area in 1845 as a Peters Colonist (Republic of Texas land grant given to investors led by William S. Peters). His house, which was situated near the present cemetery, served as a landmark on the Shawnee Trail.

The Shawnee Trail was one of the earliest of the great cattle trails and a major route for settlers entering Texas. The trail extended from south of Austin; north through Waco, Dallas, and the Plano area; across the Red River in what is now Oklahoma. Near Fort Gibson, OK, it split into several branches that terminated at cattle markets in Kansas and Missouri. Shortly after the Civil War, the fencing of former open property forced the trail’s closure. The Shawnee Trail was replaced by routes such as the Chisholm Trail and the Goodnight-Loving Trail which were farther west.

Henry Cook, several of his family members, and many descendants are buried in the cemetery he founded. It was renamed Baccus Cemetery in 1915 in honor of Henry Cook’s daughter, Rachel Baccus, who had acquired the land and donated the cemetery to Cook’s heirs in 1878.

Today, nearly 300 marked burials are present within this cemetery. Both historic and modern stone markers are evident. One-foot squares of granite mark several unknown burials that were likely originally marked with wooden markers or fieldstones. Modern granite headstones have replaced some of the damaged historic markers. The oldest burials are concentrated in the northern half of the cemetery near the east fence. At present, the cemetery continues to receive interments, but burial is restricted to relatives of those families buried in the cemetery.

City of Plano Heritage Commission (seal)

Contributed on 11/28/14 by gasirek
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Record #: 42714

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Submitted: 11/28/14 • Approved: 11/28/14 • Last Updated: 3/25/18 • R42714-G0-S3

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