Old De Leon Cemetery
Soon after the Civil War and prior to the establishment of De Leon, many families settled in this section of Comanche County, together building a log schoolhouse on Austin Branch. In 1876, thirteen settlers met at the log building at the call of Rev. E. A. Bailey, presiding elder of the Dublin District, and organized a Methodist society. When the Texas Central Railroad built west from Waco and surveyed and laid out the new town of De Leon, the railroad's civil engineer commandeered and moved the log building to use as a mule stable. Once the building moved, along with the school and church congregation, only the small graveyard which became known as Old De Leon Cemetery remained from the earlier settlement.

The cemetery was referenced in an 1885 deed from Albert Bryan Bender to his brother, Augustus K. Bender, a transaction which involved dedication of half an acre for the burial ground. Among the pioneers buried here are North Carolina native Thomas Brown (1844-1912), who married Mary Frances "Fannie" Sparks (1849-1934) in May1865. Their first daughter was born in Virginia and their other children were born in Texas starting in 1873. Thomas, who built his own home and many homes for his neighbors and was a farmer, was listed in Comanche County tax rolls by 1876. Fannie was a medical practitioner, caring for the sick and dying and serving as a midwife, she was one of the last burials in the cemetery for many decades. A 1954 De Leon Free Press article refers to the city cleaning the overgrown grounds and researching who was buried here. A crew of men identified 24 graves with names, some with only dates, along with 87 graves with no headstones but with visible sand mounds. Those buried here include some of the earlier residents of the area and their descendants who have impacted the community.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2019