Friendswood in Galveston County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Friends Church Cemetery

Photographed by Jim Evans, March 1, 2012

1. Friends Church Cemetery Marker

Inscription. In 1895, six families left the disbanded Quaker settlement of Estacado in the Lubbock area and moved to Galveston County. Here, they established the community of Friendswood, named in honor of their faith and association with the Society of Friends, more commonly known as the Quakers.

By November 1895, the settlers needed a burial ground when a falling tree killed young Newton Knode while he cut firewood with his father-in-law. His grave is the earliest marked burial at what became Friends Church Cemetery, adjacent to the Friends church and school building on property owned by community founders T.H. Lewis and F.J. Brown.

A church appointed committee has cared for the cemetery throughout its history, arranging for maintenance and establishing criteria for burial. The cemetery was open to all community residents for several decades, but when the town's population boomed in the late 20th century, new restrictions then required church membership or early town residency to qualify for burial. The cemetery today is a link to the early community and its religious founding.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2006

Erected 2006 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 13583.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Quakerism series list. A significant historical month for this entry is November 1895.

Location. 29° 31.614′ N, 95° 11.95′ W. Marker is in Friendswood, Texas, in Galveston County. It can be reached from South Friendswood Drive (State Highway FM 518) south of Sunnyview Avenue, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 502 S Friendswood Dr, Friendswood TX 77546, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Houston Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South

and on the Gulf Coast.

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,

and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Friendswood (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Quaker Academy (about 600 feet away); Oldest Structure Remaining (about 600 feet away); Friendswood Postal Service (about 800 feet away); First Business (approx. 0.2 miles away); Cecil and Frances Brown House (approx. ¼ mile away); Fig Preserving Plant (approx. ¼ mile away); Main Street Fig Orchards (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Friendswood.

Also see . . . Friendswood Friends Church. (Submitted on March 2, 2012, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.)

Photographed by Jim Evans, March 1, 2012

2. Friends Church Cemetery Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on March 2, 2012, by Jim Evans of Houston, Texas. This page has been viewed 1,481 times since then and 51 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 2, 2012, by Jim Evans of Houston, Texas. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.