Lake Chapel Cemetery (1989)

Pioneers Simeon and Nancy Lake and their seven children settled in this area in the mid-1850s. They built a home, cleared the land, and began farming. The settlement which gradually built up around the Lake farm became known as Lake Chapel community after a small church was built on their property about 1856. Known as Lake Chapel Methodist Church, it was also used by other denominations in the area. A schoolhouse was also constructed nearby, and two acres of land were set aside for a community burial ground. The earliest documented burial in the cemetery is that of the infant daughter of W. L. and Laura Lake Thornton. A granddaughter of Simeon and Nancy Lake, the child died at the age of five days in 1874. The church and school buildings were later moved from the property, and the graveyard's size was increased over the years. Among those interred here are members of the Lake and other pioneer families, as well as veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The diverse styles of grave markers which can be seen in the cemetery reflect the social history of the area, offering a glimpse into the customs and traditions of the past.

Lake Chapel Cemetery is a historical marker in Fairfield, Freestone County, dedicated in 1989. It is one of 57 historical markers documented in Freestone County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 139 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 31.7992, -96.1446 near Fairfield. The nearest cataloged historic site is Lake Chapel Cemetery (cemetery), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Day-Ward Prairie, Ward Prairie Baptist Church, and Bateman.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5161009888. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.