This collection presents materials related to the Historic Old Independence Cemetery in Independence, Texas, the first home of Baylor University. The collection includes geospatial records of the cemetery, the last resting place for many early Texians, including the son of Sam Houston and the grandson of Moses Austin.

The foremost purpose of this project is to map the exact location of each remaining gravesite at the historic Old Independence Cemetery located at 8675 Coles Road in Independence, Texas. To that end, the Texas Collection and the Digitization Projects Group have collaborated with the Baylor Center for Spatial Research. The Center for Spatial Research donated the use of professional grade GPS and survey equipment, software and hardware training, and assistance with fieldwork to collect the latitude and longitude of each identifiable gravesite in the cemetery.

The second component of this project is the documentation through digital photography of each extant headstone and the transcription of legible information inscribed on those headstones for future research purposes.

Using This Resource In Your Research?

If you're a researcher or scholar and you've found a use for our materials in your work, email us at

digitalcollectionsinfo@baylor.edu and tell us about it! We may feature your work on our Digital Collections blog or work with you to promote your work via our other social media outlets.

Rights Notice

While we are reasonably certain that our images do not infringe on copyright, we are interested in protecting the rights of creators and rights holders. If you have specific information regarding the copyright of images posted from materials held by The Texas Collection, please contact them at txcoll@baylor.edu.