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Near Avinger in Marion County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
 

Pyland African American Cemetery

 
 
Pyland African American Cemetery Marker image. Click for full size.
August 8, 2023
1. Pyland African American Cemetery Marker
Inscription. In 1862, John D. Pyland, who owned 500 acres in Tarrant County, swapped that land for 500 acres of William Johnson’s land in Marion County. On adjoining tracts of this agricultural property, he established Anglo and African American cemeteries. Many burials in this graveyard, also known as Pyland Cemetery #2, are of formerly enslaved people who worked on Pyland’s plantation. Others were later tenant farmers and sharecroppers who spurred the local economy in the late 1800s. The first recorded burial is for Annie Lou Gipson (1885-1889). More than 300 plots and grave depressions have been identified, with evidence of numerous unidentified burials. The cemetery remains a beloved site and a chronicle of the area’s heritage.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2017

 
Erected 2017 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 23362.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansCemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1862.
 
Location. 32° 51.415′ N, 94° 31.362′ W. Marker is near Avinger, Texas, in Marion County. It can be reached from Texas Route 49 3.3 miles
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south of Route 155, on the right when traveling south. The marker is located at the south side of the Pyland Cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Avinger TX 75630, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Piney Woods. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Republic of Texas, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Kellyville (approx. 8 miles away); Early Bell Foundry (approx. 8.6 miles away); Dr. M.D.K. Taylor (approx. 9.6 miles away); First Ice Factory in Texas (approx. 11.1 miles away); Tarver's Ferry (approx. 11.3 miles away); Site of Old Spearman's Ferry (approx. 11.7 miles away); Hughes Springs (approx. 11.7 miles away); Trammel's Trace (approx. 11.7 miles away).
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on December 1, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 12, 2023, by Lane Greer of Stillwater, Oklahoma. This page has been viewed 1,677 times since then and 100 times this year. Photo   1. submitted on August 12, 2023. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
 
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A photo of the marker and the surrounding area in context. • Can you help?
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Aug. 15, 2026