Western Heights Cemetery
Western Heights Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in Dallas, Texas. Established in the 19th century, it is among the city’s early burial grounds and reflects Dallas’s development during its formative growth.
The cemetery contains graves of early settlers, immigrants, and individuals connected to local and regional historical events. Its burials provide insight into the social and cultural history of Dallas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Western Heights Cemetery remains a historical site and continues to be the focus of preservation and documentation efforts aimed at protecting its remaining grave markers and records.
Geography
Western Heights Cemetery is located in the Western Heights area of West Dallas on elevated ground above the Trinity River floodplain.Unlike most of West Dallas, which lies in the Trinity River floodplain, the cemetery is elevated by the Austin Chalk limestone formation overlooking the Trinity River and downtown Dallas.
The cemetery lies within the Texas Blackland Prairies ecoregion.
History
Western Heights Cemetery was established in the 19th century in Dallas, Texas, and served as a burial ground for residents of the surrounding area. The cemetery reflects burial practices and neighborhood development patterns common in Dallas during the city’s late 19th- and early 20th-century growth.A Texas Historical Marker recognizing the cemetery was installed in 1988.
In 1992, the Dallas Genealogical Society surveyed and transcribed all headstones at Western Heights Cemetery.
In 2006, Trinity Oaks Church of Christ became defunct, and custody of the cemetery was transferred to Rolling Hills Church of Christ in DeSoto.
During the Trinity River flood of 1908, the surrounding area was affected by widespread flooding in Dallas.
The cemetery has been recognized by the Texas Historical Commission and documented in the Texas Historic Sites Atlas as a historic burial ground in Dallas.
Preservation and Restoration
Western Heights Cemetery is listed in the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Historic Sites Atlas and has been documented under multiple names, including Troth and West Dallas Cemetery.In the 2020s, local volunteers and neighborhood organizations organized cleanup and maintenance efforts to address overgrowth and deteriorating conditions at the site.
In 2023, Western Heights Cemetery was included as a pilot site in the Constellation of Living Memorials urban wildlife habitat program.
Preservation-focused programming in Dallas has also included the cemetery in educational and heritage events.
Notable interments
- Capt. Zachariah Ellis Coombes, lawyer, Confederate Army officer, county judge of Dallas County, alderman, and member of the Texas House of Representatives.
- Ida Mae Murphy, with her husband James Andrew Murphy. She is noted in cemetery records for sheltering more than 30 people during the Great Trinity River Flood of 1908.
- John Loupot and his wife Rosina Loupot, settlers of the La Réunion colony near Dallas.
- Clyde Barrow, American outlaw best known as one half of the Depression-era crime duo Bonnie and Clyde.
- Buck Barrow, member of the Barrow Gang and older brother of Clyde Barrow.