Racist history of Pole Town Cemetery in Grand Saline, Texas exposed.

Pole Town Cemetery in Grand Saline has some of the most hidden racist history of all cemeteries in the state of Texas. This news article will expose some of the racist history behind Pole Town Cemetery.

Pole Town Cemetery was established circa 1840 on the western edge of Grand Saline, Texas. This section of town was called Pole Town. This cemetery was situated in or near the old community of Rhodesburg, Texas. Some graves are marked only with rocks and some are unmarked. The oldest recognizable grave in this cemetery is that of Sindyrillah Parker b. 13 Dec, 1857 d. 26 Jun, 1860. She was the daughter of Chesley & Mary Parker who are also buried there. (Ref: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2391296/pole-town-cemetery)

Black people were hung from poles in Pole Town Cemetery during the mid-19th century. Pole Town Cemetery is where the heads were displayed. The racist mindset of this town and cemetery was to “kill niggers and put their heads up on a pole”. Pole Town Cemetery was a place in Grand Saline where black bodies used to be displayed on poles after being lynched.

Stories of midnight crucifixions, of immolations, and beheadings were factual as there were white leaders in the community terrorizing black residents. Some based on fact and some based on fiction. Overall Pole Town Cemetery was the site of black decapitation and racial massacres.

Rumors and stories about black people being lynched from a nearby bridge suspended over some train tracks, allowing their bodies to be demolished by the freight cars and their severed heads placed on poles west of town, though the single documented case of a severed head placed on a pole in Grand Saline is attributable to a white doctor who regularly saw and treated black patients. (Ref: https://www.fwweekly.com/2018/12/12/man-on-fire/)

Here is what happened to one man who didn't heed the warning. One man was passing through Grand Saline unaware of the town being a sundown town. He was caught after dark by some white men. Those white men took him and hung him on a pole. He was hung in Pole Town, named for its lynching pole. Others were hung from a wooden railroad bridge. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/218521927/)

There were residents that were “haunted by visions of decapitated corpses and heads impaled atop poles” passing by this cemetery. To grow up there was to be haunted by the spirits of the past, haunted by visions of decapitated corpses and heads impaled atop poles. Retired Methodist minister Charles Moore was one of them. Moore was pulled down that path, pulled by the spirits of the lynched and burned, the crucified and immolated. “The vision of them haunts me greatly,” he revealed. (Ref: https://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2015-04/burned-solidarity)

There was even a sign posted inside of Pole Town Cemetery that said, “Nigger, don’t let the sun set down on you in Grand Saline”. Some residents of the area remember this sundown sign and another sign being at the edge of town on each side warning black people to get out before sundown. One read,  “Don’t let the sun set on your black ass.” and the other read, “Nigger, don’t let the sun set down on you in Grand Saline”. Grand Saline was a sundown town. The racist mindset of this town and cemetery was to “kill niggers and put their heads up on a pole”. Regular Klan activity was commonplace. (Ref: https://www.texasobserver.org/man-on-fire-searches-in-vain-for-the-truth-about-racism-in-east-texas/)

However most people in Grand Saline seem to deny the sign’s existence and would not talk about it when asked. Yet longtime residents acknowledge the racist history of this town.

Today Pole Town Cemetery is now on private property. Permission must be obtained from the property owner before visiting the cemetery. The cemetery is an unfriendly reminder of Grand Saline’s racist legacy. (Ref: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2391296/pole-town-cemetery)

Pole Town Cemetery is located at 8212 US 80 Grand Saline, Texas, US 75140.