This rural cemetery is located at the dead end in a road, and is located on the right side with no signs. Between the two cattle gates there are two Historical Markers and the foundations blocks of the previous United Methodist church building. This appears to be all that is left of a once thriving community. The burials are scattered throughout the large, clean property and one grave is encased in an antique fence. There is plenty of room for expansion, and many trees are located within the grounds. On the right side of the property the headstones are close to the fence/tree row. In 2019 there were 170 burials and the cemetery is currently conducting new burials.



From Marlin Texas travel East on Hwy 7. When you reach FM 2745 turn right and proceed until you reach FM 413 where you will turn right. Proceed until you see Cr 263 where you will turn left. Travel until you read the Hwy road sign pointing toward the cemetery. ( turn left and proceed until the road dead ends).



Historical Marker :

This graveyard, one of the oldest in Falls County, was used for the interment of African-Americans for more than a century. Founded by former slaves in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Long Branch (later Long Branch United Methodist Church), it covers more than three acres surrounded by farm land. The cemetery is the last surviving vestige of the Long Branch community. The earliest names associated with the settlement, including Thornton Craig, Jim Furry, Jessie Smith, Edmond Taylor and Nelson Weatherspoon, were all here by June 1870. Records do not indicate whether these men and their families were in the community as slaves or arrived after emancipation. Most came from Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Long Branch citizens built a two-room school house and chose educators from their ranks. Many made their living by tenant farming, working manual labor in nearby towns and taking in boarders, and several became landowners. They also served their country in military conflicts from the Civil War to Vietnam, including Anthony Shaw, Co. G, 104th U. S. Colored Infantry, who is buried here. On September 20, 1883, community trustees bought land from William M. Stephens to establish a hall of worship and an eternal resting place for those calling Long Branch home. While cemetery interments exceed 200, some early burials went unrecorded. Among the decedents are the remains of 25 freed slaves. One of these, Silvia King, recorded valuable personal and cultural history in the 1930s before she died at age 133. The school at Long Branch closed in 1950, and the church closed in 1971 and later burned. This important community burial ground remains an active cemetery. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2010