Keenan Cemetery

Thomas (1808 - 1879) and Sarah McCallister Keenan (1807 - 1872) came to this area as members of the Peters Colony in 1842. When their two-month-old son, John, died on November 11, 1843, they buried him at this site, establishing one of the earliest cemeteries in present-day Dallas County. The large number of early infant graves are testimony to the hardships endured by the area's pioneer settlers. Thomas and Sarah Keenan and many of their descendants are buried here. The area's first Baptist Church, Union Baptist, was organized in the Keenans' log cabin in 1846 by the Rev. David Myers, who was buried here in 1853. The church, which erected a sanctuary nearby, was closely associated with the cemetery and in a deed executed by John R. West conveying 1.5 acres to the church in 1875 the cemetery was legally set aside. The Farmers Branch (Keenan) Cemetery Association was established in 1938 to maintain the grounds. The cemetery covers three acres and contains about 600 marked and an estimated 100 - 200 unmarked grave sites. Among the people buried here are many of the area's earliest settlers and their descendants and verterans of conflicts ranging from the Civil War to the Vietnam Conflict.

Keenan Cemetery is a historical marker in Farmers Branch, Dallas County, dedicated in 1994. It is one of 352 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 574 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.9229, -96.8921 near Farmers Branch. The nearest cataloged historic site is Keenan, John (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Myers, David, Texian Land and Emigration Company, and First Baptist Church of Farmers Branch.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5113006750. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.