Near Follett in Lipscomb County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Fairmont Cemetery

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, March 16, 2016

1. Fairmont Cemetery Marker

Inscription. This burial ground serves citizens near the northern tip of Texas at a site closer to capitals of six other states than it is to Austin. In 1901, area settlers established Ivanhoe, OK., eight miles to the north. That town moved two miles in 1909 to a site on the Beaver Valley and Northwestern Railway, changing its name to South Ivanhoe and leaving behind only the Methodist church building. Eight years later, citizens moved again, this time across the state line to a spot on the North Texas and Santa Fe Railway built from Shattuck, OK. to Spearman, TX. Beginning in December 1917, all the buildings of South Ivanhoe, including a hotel and bank, were put on skids and dragged to the new townsite. The settlement, named for railroad engineer Horace Follett, got its post office in 1918.

Dr. Charles and Ora White owned land in South Ivanhoe and at this site, deeding land for Fairmont Cemetery in 1910, even before the establishment of Follett. The first burial was the reinterment of Myra Jones, a mother of six, who was killed by lightning in 1904 and originally buried at the Gigger Ranch. Her widowed husband, Michael "Uncle Mac" Jones, was the cemetery's first caretaker. In the 1920s, Frederick Harhausen and his two sons hauled more than 200 cedar trees from near Vici, OK. (40 mi. SE), planting them on the perimeter and in a circle in the center of the cemetery. The outlining trees remain among the cemetery's more distinctive landscape features.

Those buried here include the children of Mexican railroad workers who died during the influenza epidemic of 1918. More than one hundred military veterans, three of whom were killed in action in World War II, are also interred here. The Fairmont Cemetery Association, founded in 1909, cares for the cemetery.

Historic Texas Cemetery

Erected 2006 by Texas Historical Commission.

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(Marker Number 13944.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical month for this entry is December 1917.

Location. 36° 28.692′ N, 100° 7.001′ W. Marker is near Follett, Texas, in Lipscomb County. It can be reached from the intersection of Farm to Market Road 1454 and County Road C. Marker is in center of cemetery, on the northwest corner. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Follett TX 79034, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Texas Panhandle.

It is also on the American Great Plains

and specifically on the Southern Plains.

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 Comanchería,

the Dust Bowl,

the Republic of Texas,

and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 5 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Follett (approx. 3.3 miles away); Follett United Methodist Church and Church Bell (approx. 3.3

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, March 16, 2016

2. Fairmont Cemetery Marker

miles away); Follett United Methodist Church (approx. 3.3 miles away); Northeast Corner of Texas (approx. 7.2 miles away); Fairview Cemetery (approx. 9.1 miles away).

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, March 16, 2016

3. Fairmont Cemetery Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on April 2, 2016, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona. This page has been viewed 658 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 2, 2016, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona.