Garvin Memorial Cemetery
aka Smith-Hall Cemetery
LOCATION: 4000 block of West Northwest Highway, Dallas, Texas
- MAPSCO REFERENCE: 24-W
- GPS: 32.863297 -96.846336
- On DGS Cemetery Map
- On Google Maps
- On Findagrave
Directions: This small cemetery is located between Marsh and Midway Roads on Northwest Highway in Dallas, Texas, and is situated on the south side of the road. Though the cemetery sits back about 100 feet from the road and is not immediately visible, it is marked by two metal signs indicating the presence of a state historical marker and a plywood sign which reads:
Plywood sign
Garvin Memorial Cemetery
Established 1868
Rededicated in 1897Cemetery restored in 1977 by Jesse & Ruth Swor in memory of William T. Swor, Sr., buried 1888 and John Wesley Swor, buried 1912.
Texas Historic Commission Marker
The Texas Historical Commission marker was placed in 1980, and reads: “Garvin Memorial Cemetery. This burial ground served the pioneer families who settled in the area. Graves here date from the 1870s. The land for the cemetery was donated to the community by James G. Garvin (1838-1897), a former Dallas merchant, his wife Eliza and brothers, Col. William L. Crawford (1839-1920) and Judge M. L. Crawford (1841-1910), prominent attorneys of the county. Several veterans of the Civil War are interred here, including Col. Pleasant G. Swor (1834-1878), who led an assault against Union forces at the Battle of Corinth.”
This cemetery is badly overgrown and nearly a dozen of the headstones have been broken off at the base and are missing. Quite a number of gravesites are marked with metal tags set in concrete, which give only the family name. Two groups of graves are contained within concrete‑edged curbs and the remainder surround them. The land appears to be listed for sale.
The burials were recorded in Dallas County Texas Genealogical Data from Early Cemeteries, Vol. 3 (fiche) from various sources. R. Steven Rainwater & Susan Chance-Rainwater recorded tombstones on 27 Dec 1997 and provided them to USGenWeb. This compilation adds information from death certificates.
