Historic Black cemetery and land donated to Burnet County for preservation
Stringtown Cemetery in eastern Burnet County is all that remains of a Black community founded after the Civil War. The cemetery and surrounding land were donated to the county in May 2025 for historical preservation. Photo courtesy of Michael Ritchie
Burnet County recently accepted a donated deed for land containing Stringtown Cemetery, guaranteeing the continued preservation and restoration of what remains of the historic Black community that formed in the eastern part of the county after the end of the Civil War.
With deed in hand, county officials and members of the Burnet County Historical Commission are moving forward with a plan to revitalize the cemetery and make it accessible to the community by 2026.
On May 27, the Burnet County Commissioners Court officially accepted the donation of a 1.02-acre parcel at 4744 FM 1174 South near Oatmeal from landowners Virginia and Albert Downing. Albert was a longtime member of the Historical Commission, and the couple had worked to preserve the property on their own until recently moving to Colorado.
Now, major steps are underway to protect the site and solidify it as a state and national historic landmark.
“It’s a going thing right now, and we are bound and determined to get it done,” Lela Goar, the BCHC’s Certified Local Government Grant coordinator, told DailyTrib.com.
Goar is overseeing a $15,000 Texas Historical Commission Undertold Marker grant to get Stringtown Cemetery in tip-top shape by September 2026, when the three-year grant period runs its course.
The county and volunteers will soon fence in and gate the property and get rid of weeds, brush, and unwanted trees while making sure not to disturb gravesites, some of which date back to the 1880s. Researchers are in the process of identifying an estimated 50 unmarked graves among the 70 total.
Stringtown history
The community of Stringtown was founded around 1877, following the end of the Civil War in 1865, by recently emancipated slaves. Today, Stringtown and communities like it are called “Freedom Colonies.”
The town was short-lived, mostly dying out by the 1920s as families sought more opportunity in larger cities like Marble Falls, Liberty Hill, Leander, and Georgetown. The cemetery remained, however, with the most recent grave dated Oct. 1, 1965.
Learn more about Stringtown, its cemetery, and the dedicated souls behind bringing it back to life in The Picayune magazine story “Historic Stringtown Cemetery resting place of Burnet County ‘Freedom Colony’,” which was published in February 2024.