Mixon, Texas, Cherokee County ghost town. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Originally known as Pine Springs, the origin of the name remains something of a mystery. The town established a church, school, and cemetery in the mid 1850s but until a post office opened in 1889, things were pretty quiet. The name Pine Springs had been taken by another town so the post office was granted under the name Mixon. In 1907 the Mixon post office closed.

The town's high-water mark occured in the 1890s when the town reported seventy-five Mixonites. Mixon still had 70 people living there in the 1940s, with two businesses in operation but due to the increased mobility after WWII, Mixon had negative growth.

Today Mixon is comprised of two Baptist churches, a cemetery and a population estimated as below 50.

First Baptist Church of Mixon
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, December 2012

First Baptist Church of Mixon Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, December 2012

First Baptist Church of Mixon sign
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, December 2012

Mixon Missionary Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, December 2012

Historical Marker: at the intersections of Highway 135, FM 177 and FM 3052

Mixon Cemetery

SETTLERS FROM TENNESSEE, ALABAMA, GEORGIA AND THE CAROLINAS, INCLUDING THE BLANTON, BRALY, DICKEY, LANGSTON, LONG, MUSICK, SHAW, STOCKTON AND THOMAS FAMILIES, ESTABLISHED PINE SPRINGS COMMUNITY (LATER MIXON) IN THE 1850s. IN 1853, JOSIAH THOMAS DEDICATED 9.7 ACRES OF LAND ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF HIS TWO-THIRDS LEAGUE OF A HEADRIGHT FOR CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS PURPOSES. AFTER THE LAND CHANGED HANDS SEVERAL TIMES, A MAY 22, 1883 DEED CONVEYED THE TRACT FROM S. A. AND F. M. BRALY TO THREE TRUSTEES, S. K. BRALY, MOSES LANGSTON, AND L. T. WILLINGHAM, REPRESENTING THE LOCAL CHURCHES � METHODIST EPISCOPAL SOUTH, CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN AND MISSIONARY BAPTIST.

THE OLDEST MARKED GRAVE IN MIXON CEMETERY IS FOR OCTAVIO BRALY (APR. 11, 1853 � JUN. 12, 1854). MANY OF THE OLDEST BURIAL SITES ARE MARKED WITH LOCAL RED IRON ORE ROCK. TRADITION STATES THERE ALSO MAY BE UNMARKED GRAVES FOR MEMBERS OF LOCAL INDIAN TRIBES. MORE THAN 125 VETERANS HAVE MARKED GRAVES, INCLUDING SOLDIERS FROM THE WAR OF 1812 TO PRESENT. MANY OF THE 22 CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS BURIED HERE SERVED IN COMPANY G, 22ND REGIMENT OF THE TEXAS INFANTRY.

GRAVESTONE MATERIALS INCLUDE LIMESTONE AND GRANITE. MANY LARGE OBELISKS AND WOODMEN OF THE WORLD MARKERS ARE PROMINENT. IN THE 1940s, BRICK COLUMNS AND A METAL ARCHWAY WERE PLACED ALONG THE PERIMETER. THE LANDSCAPE WAS SCRAPED EARTH UNTIL THE 1950s, AND HAS BEEN MOWED GRASS SINCE THAT TIME.

THE MIXON CEMETERY ASSOCIATION BOARD ENSURES THAT THE TRADITIONS OF THE FOUNDERS CONTINUE WHILE ACTIVE BURIALS OCCUR. A MEMORIAL SERVICE AND DINNER ARE HELD YEARLY. MIXON CEMETERY CONTINUES TO BE USED AND REMAINS A TESTAMENT TO THE PIONEERING MEN AND WOMEN OF THE COMMUNITY.
2010

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