Willow Grove Community Cemetery

This cemetery has served the community of Willow Grove since the late 1800s. William "Buck" Manning and A.W. Crawford, former slaves, moved here with their families in the years following emancipation (1865), founding Willow Grove in 1871. They purchased property and each man donated an acre of land on which to establish Willow Grove Baptist Church and this cemetery. The first burial in Willow Grove Community Cemetery was for Dallas Gardner in 1880, followed in the same year by infant Joe A. Crawford. Most of the early settlers in Willow Grove, including Buck Manning and A.W. Crawford, are buried here. Other early families represented in the burial ground are the Browns, Hamiltons, Robersons and McLennans. Notable burials include those of Jewett Presnall (Preston) Manning, a World War II veteran and Speegleville fire chief. Also interred here are veterans of foreign conflicts dating to World War I and a number of individuals whose graves are unmarked. As the community grew, concerned residents came together to care for the cemetery. In 1935, the Willow Grove Homecoming Club, later renamed Willow Grove Homecoming, formed to maintain the grounds and define guidelines for interment of family and community members. The association still cares for the burial ground. Today, Willow Grove Community Cemetery continues to serve area residents and descendants of the pioneering families who came together to form a rural settlement here. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005

Willow Grove Community Cemetery is a historical marker in Willow Grove, McLennan County, dedicated in 2007. It is one of 198 historical markers documented in McLennan County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 224 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 31.5506, -97.3033 near Willow Grove. The nearest cataloged historic site is Speegleville Baptist Church (historical marker), about 1.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Evergreen Cemetery, Shiloh Baptist Church, and Bosque River Crossing of the 1841 Texas Santa Fe Expediton.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507014037. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.