Live Oak Cemetery

Although an inventory of marked gravesites indicates that the first person buried here was Michael Young, local tradition claims that distinction actually belongs to Young's daughter. She is believed to have died of sickness near this location during the family's westward journey from Alabama and buried here prior to her father's interment in 1875. At that time, this particular piece of land was still state public land. It was not until 1886 that it passed into the private ownership of John O. Rhea. The first legal documentation of Live Oak Cemetery is contained in a deed transfering 3.9 acres of land for cemetery purposes from a subsequent owner, P.C. Mitchell, to cemetery trustees in 1901. At that time the cemetery contained about 40 burials. The dates appearing on tombstones suggest that this cemetery has been in continuous use since 1875. By 1990 it contained about 435 marked and unmarked graves. This cemetery is closely associated with the community of Youngsport, reportedly named for Michael Young. Live Oak Cemetery, together with the Boone-Hamlin Cemetery, continues to actively serve the Youngsport community and is maintained by a local cemetery association. (1992)

Live Oak Cemetery is a historical marker in Killeen, Bell County, dedicated in 1992. It is one of 226 historical markers documented in Bell County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 411 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.9838, -97.7165 near Killeen. The nearest cataloged historic site is Boone-Hamlin #1 (cemetery), about 0.7 miles away. Others within a short drive include Mitchell, Andrew Jackson Turnbo Cemetery, and Youngsport.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5027003103. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.