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Silver Valley
Cemetery
Historic Texas Cemetery
Photo
Courtesy Dustin
Martin, August 2017 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The origin of the
name is unknown but the town dates from 1886 when B. E. Smith and
B. R. Brown settled here. in the late 1890s a store opened and after
a post office was granted it opened inside the store. In 1910 the
post office moved alongside the tracks of the Pecos and Northern Texas
Railroad.
Silver Valley had 67 people present for the 1940 Census which has
since dwindled to 20 - the figure given for both 1980 and 1990. |
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Historical
Marker
Silver
Valley Cemetery
Silver Valley
Cemetery The first known grave here is that of Helen A. (Crocker)
Averitt, who, like her husband, John C. Averitt, was an early area
spiritual leader and educator. Her burial in 1881 predated the purchase
and designation of the land as a cemetery by 20 years. Originally
called Robinson's Peak Cemetery, the burial ground contains the graves
of other early settlers and their families. Veterans from every branch
of the U.S. military were laid to rest here, as were the families
of Mexican railroad workers in the early 20th century. An association
organized in 1958 maintains the cemetery, which is still in use and
remains a link to the history of Silver Valley.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002 |
Burned down in
the late 1990s
Photo
courtesy David Buck |
Silver Valley,
Texas Forum
Subject:
Silver Valley
My father, Rex Buck, was born in this home at Silver Valley, Texas
in 1928. Unfortunately, this home burned down in the late 1990s.
His father, Oscar Buck, came to Coleman County from Arkadelphia
AR as a young man about the turn of the century. My grandfather
was active in politics as Chair of the Coleman County Democratic
Party, farmed parcels of north-central Coleman County, owned and
ran the store at Echo and sold insurance
from an office above the Owl Drug store in Coleman until his retirement
in the late 1940's. Thank you for your informative [magazine] and
the smiles it brings. - David Buck, June 11, 2007
Silver Valley
was suggested for inclusion by Rebekah Latham who wrote: "Ten miles
north of Coleman, Texas,
on Hwy. 84 is a ghost town: Silver Valley. My husband was the student
pastor of the Baptist church there in 1949-1951 while attending
Howard Payne College, now University, in Brownwood.
The small congregation met in the old abandoned school house, and
there were portions of sidewalks among the weeds in the area. There
was one small general store operating on the highway at that time."
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
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