Eagle Scout recognized for Stringtown Cemetery improvements
Thomas McAnally, an 18-year-old Eagle Scout from Oatmeal, shakes hands with Burnet County Judge Bryan Wilson after receiving official recognition from the Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Nov. 25 for helping to restore a historic black cemetery near Bertram. McAnally’s family, members of the Burnet County Historical Commission, and the other members of the Commissioners Court gathered for the photo opportunity. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
An Eagle Scout was officially recognized and thanked by the Burnet County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Nov. 25 for his leadership in several renovations and improvements made to Stringtown Cemetery.
Thomas McAnally, 18, of Oatmeal chose to help restore the historical graveyard for his official Eagle Scout project earlier this year, clearing land surrounding the site, and creating a new walking path between the cemetery and a future parking lot for the property.
Stringtown Cemetery, on CR 326A near Bertram, is all that remains of a historic Black community that formed in the rural reaches of Burnet County following the Civil War. The Burnet County Historical Commission has been improving the land to make it an accessible, public historic site since 2023 using a state grant and ample volunteer support.
“It is a marvelous thing that (McAnally and his family) have done for us,” Historical Commission member and grant administrator Lela Goar told the Commissioners Court on Tuesday. “
“We feel that we’re in a much better place now.”
Goar said she hopes to hold a dedication ceremony for Stringtown by September 2026.
The cemetery and some nearby land were officially donated to Burnet County in June of this year by the Downing family, who had preserved the property on their own for years. With the donation made, work began on restoring the cemetery and documenting the gravesites.
Stringtown was founded in 1877 by recently emancipated slaves in the aftermath of the Civil War. The community mostly dispersed by the 1920s, but the graveyard remained in use all the way up until 1965. It has an estimated 70 graves total, with 50 of them being unmarked.
McAnally, his family, and other scouts cleared away trees, brush, trash, and debris that were in between the cemetery and adjacent land that will become a future parking lot for the site, making it easier to get in and out of the property. They also chipped the felled juniper trees and used them to make a footpath.
“(The work is) honoring Texas history and we really appreciate what you’ve done,” Burnet County Judge Bryan Wilson told McAnally.
McAnally also thanked Precinct 3 Commissioner Chad Collier for installing a culvert near the cemetery, which allowed the Eagle Scout and his team to bring in heavy equipment for the difficult work of clearing the property and chipping the trees.