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Volunteers begin clean-up on abandoned Woodway cemetery; organizers say more help needed

Roughly 189 people were buried there, including three World War I veterans.

WOODWAY, Texas — A volunteer clean-up project is underway to restore the forgotten Liberty Hill Cemetery with its first volunteers starting this past weekend.

It's an abandoned resting place that sits behind some Woodway residences and can be reached through a 15-foot easement. Roughly 189 people were buried there, "being neglected" said Richard Maker, a Woodway resident spearheading the clean-up.

Maker initially found out about the status of Liberty Hill Cemetery nearly one year ago. 

"It's like a sense of duty that you honor. It may not be your mother, brother or father...but we just want to honor people," Maker said.

The first documented burial dates back to 1910. Between then and the 50s, around 150 people were buried there, but there are dozens more who may be unaccounted for.

Records from The Texas Collection at Baylor University show there are three World War I veterans, Liberty Hill Baptist church goers and immigrant workers and their families who were laid to rest on the property.

Right now, most of their graves are unrecognizable, unkept, and abandoned. The only life in the acre-and-a-half burial site is overgrown thorns and brush, insects and a canopy of trees.

In November, volunteers were able to clean and restore the graves of the three veterans ahead of Veterans Day. 

Here are a few pictures of the results. 

Credit: Richard Maker
Gravesite of Texas Pvt. Lura Richardson
Credit: Richard Maker
Gravesite of Texas Pvt P S Peoples
Credit: Richard Maker
Texas Pvt. Rable J. Wilson

The City of Woodway is not involved in this project because of how costly it could be.

"We want to do so much more. Probably in six months, we're talking about having another cleanup day. We don't want to disturb the neighbors with too much work," said the Woodway resident, David Russell. "We just want to get this cleaned up and get it to look like a cemetery again to respect the people that are buried here."

   

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