Little River-Wilson Valley Cemetery

Wilson Valley community originally consisted of the seven Wilson brothers, their wives and children, and the Huckabee and Thornton families. They came from Mississippi in 1867 to escape Civil War devastation. According to family tradition, Easter Cobb Wilson, family matriarch, expressed a desire to be buried on a certain hillside. Her son Calvin Wilson designated a plot on that hill to be a family cemetery. In 1869, William J. R. Wilson, 3-year-old son of Ben and Edna Wilson, became the first to be interred at this site. Several others had been buried by 1877 when Easter Cobb Wilson died at age 81. In 1893, Bartlett and Avie McGregor Marks Huckabee deeded 3.27 acres of land, including the family plot, to the trustees of the Wilson Valley Cemetery Association. Wilson Valley, which had become a thriving area, declined when the railroad went through Little River, and gradually the two communities merged. Graves in the cemetery reflect a high infant-child mortality rate in the late 19th century and deaths due to an influenza epidemic in 1917 and 1918. A 19th century tabernacle is used for meetings and ceremonies. In 1997, over 1,300 graves were counted in the cemetery. (1997)

Little River-Wilson Valley Cemetery is a historical marker in Little River, Bell County, dedicated in 1997. It is one of 223 historical markers documented in Bell County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 399 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.9755, -97.3713 near Little River. The nearest cataloged historic site is Fort Griffin (cemetery), about 1.5 miles away. Others within a short drive include Moreno Catholic, Fort Griffin, and Wheat.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5027011727. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.