Brickyard Cemetery

The City of Mesquite acquired ownership of the Brickyard Cemetery and the surrounding acreage in 2001. An archaeological steward from the State of Texas studied the property and found approximately 80 graves, along with a broken headstone and pieces of pink granite, wood, metal, and concrete used for headstones. This area was set aside for burials of African American laborers of the Ferris Brick Company and their family members which used to be located in this vicinity. The brick company opened in 1904 and closed in the 1950s.

Downtown Square
In May 1873, Texas & Pacific Railroad engineer, A.R. Alcott platted a new depot town named Mesquite. the post office opened the following year. The community developed along the rail line, with businesses initially facing Front Street. As the town grew, business owners turned their front doors to Main Street in an effort to create a Town Square. Voters incorporated Mesquite in 1887. In 1903, following a legal challenge, the City re-incorporated with new boundaries. Mesquite, which began with an agrarian economy, grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century as a Dallas suburb. The school district, established in 1901, is a draw for new residents, and the City continues to grow.

​Sam Bass Train Robbery
Sam Bass - with Sean Barnes, Hank Underwood, “Arkansas” Johnson, and Frank Jackson - held up a Texas & Pacific train here, April 10, 1878. They took $152, but missed hidden shipment of $30,000. In planning a bank robbery 3 months later, Bass was fatally shot by Rangers.

First Methodist Church of Mesquite

In 1857, prior to the incorporation of the town of Mesquite, a group of area residents began gathering occasionally for Methodist worship services led by circuit riding Preacher W.K. Masten. Services were held a nearby building known variously as the Frost Schoolhouse or the Bennett Schoolhouse. By 1863, the group had organized formally as the First Methodist Episcopal Church, south. Services continued in the schoolhouse until 1880, when charter members John L. and Lucy Futrell deeded this land to the congregation for the construction of a church building. Soon a small wood-frame structure was erected. Later damaged by a storm, it was rebuilt in 1900. In 1887 when the town of Mesquite was incorporated, charter member J. E. Russell became the town’s first mayor, and the downtown area began to develop near the church site. As the population of Mesquite increased, so did the congregation, and several progressively larger sanctuaries were built after 1916 to accommodate its growth. Because of denominational mergers, the congregation changed its name to the First Methodist Church of Mesquite in 1939, and to the First United Methodist Church of Mesquite in 1968.

Galloway Farmstead
Confederate veteran Benjamin Franklin Galloway (1833-1912) And his wife Eliza (Fletcher) (1852-1883) came to Texas from Tennessee in 1872. Their son Bedford Forest is said to have been born in a covered wagon at Duck Creek (Garland) in 1873. They purchased 101 acres in 1874 and Benjamin Galloway erected a cabin where they lived while a two-room house was built. A farmer, he also raised horses, mules and cattle. A second son, Nathan Lemmon, was born in 1876. Twin sons were born in 1883, but they lived only a day, and Eliza Galloway died soon after. Her niece, Clara Gentry, came to live with the family that year. At that time Benjamin had a Blackland Prairie hay company. Dallas clients included Tennessee Dairy, Caruth Farm and Ringling Brothers Circus. Benjamin Galloway married Amanda Jane Miller (1848-1938) of Tennessee in 1887 and built a 1½ story addition onto the home place. The structure eventually featured an entrance hall, bedroom, parlor, and a kitchen on the first level, with children's rooms upstairs. 
A son was born in 1888, but died at birth. Bedford returned home after attending college in Waco and New Orleans and made his living farming, baling hay and ginning cotton. He and his first wife, Nannie Lawrence, had four children. After her death in 1915, he married Bertha Dakan in 1917 and they had two daughters. Bedford was a city alderman, a member of the school board, and served as mayor of Mesquite from 1927 to 1940. A Galloway descendant restored the house between 1949 and 1950 and built another addition in 1955. Designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1973, the Galloway Home Place was moved from this site to a more rural location in Sunnyvale in an effort to protect it from encroaching urban development.

Mesquite Cemetery
​This burial ground was in use well before the Texas and Pacific Railroad established the City of Mesquite in 1873. The earliest marked grave is that of Britanna Santifee Chapman (1856-1859) who shares a plot with pioneer residents Davis G. Chapman (1824-1881) and wife Nancy C. (1828-1912). In 1890, local builder and civic leader Louis C. Ebrite (1852-1943) plotted a tract of several acres in a grid pattern with driveways that define the layout of the cemetery to this day. The site was formally deeded for cemetery use in 1892 and continues to honor area veterans and to chronicle the generations that belong to Mesquites proud heritage.

Motley Cemetery
Zachariah Motley migrated to Texas (1856) from Kentucky with his family and slaves. He and his wife Mary, five sons and three daughters helped settle this area and built their home some 200’ Northeast of this site, a one-half acre portion of the original homestead bought from the Crittenden Survey. Earliest known burial (1863) was Penelope Motley McLain, a daughter, and the wife of Capt. J.B. McLain. The plot is still in use and is owned and cared for by Motley descendants. Twenty-five known graves included family members and their slaves.

Potter cemetery

John P. (1827-1899) and Martha (Oden) (1835-1872) Potter, pioneer citizens of the Republic of Texas, bought a farm near the Haught’s Store community in 1860. When their son William L. Potter died in July 1861 he was the first to be buried on this site; John Potter enlisted in the Confederate Army in the same month. After the war he served as Justice of the Peace; his landholdings included almost 1,000 acres. Most of the Potters’ nine children are interred here. The last recorded burial was in 1947. A 1997 count revealed 16 possible graves. The Potter Cemetery remains a record of the settlers who shaped Eastern Dallas County.

public education

Founded in 1885, the Mesquite Community School served until the first building of the newly formed Mesquite Independent School District was completed on this site in 1902, beginning with 200 students. Through strong community support, a high school was erected in 1923 and accredited in 1924. In the late 1930s a new high school was completed and the George W. Carver School was opened for area African American Students. The district was integrated in 1964. More buildings were acquired as needed. With an enrollment of 3,000 in 1997, Mesquite High School remains a focal point of public education in the area. ​

First Presbyterian Church of Mesquite

In 1881, fifteen area residents organized the Mesquite Presbyterian Church. These charter members originally worshipped in a home where the Rev. George L. Blewett, a noted circuit riding preacher, held services. The congregation completed their first church building in 1885 near the corner of Ebrite and Davis streets. In 1918, to accommodate church growth, members built a new sanctuary, replacing the first structure on the same site. In 1927, the church changed names, becoming First Presbyterian Church of Mesquite. The congregation has been active in the community since its early years. A number of members have also served as community leaders. Joseph Columbus (J.C.) Rugel, a school teacher and one of the church’s founders, became a representative to the state legislature in 1886 and served one term as mayor of mesquite (1900-1904). He and farmer John L. Hanby are two former members for whom local elementary schools are named. Robert Snead (R.S.) Kimbrough, another member, also served as a representative in the state legislature. Additionally, he started The Little Mesquiter, a local newspaper later known as The Mesquite News. Kimbrough’s wife, Jennie (Curtis), was active in the community and church as well. The congregation has also worked with individuals outside of the area, placing a priority on supporting worldwide missions work. In 1958, the congregation moved to a new building on belt line road. Since that time, church membership has continued to grow. Today, First Presbyterian Church maintains its role as a leading voice for the Christian faith in Mesquite. ​

essential questions

curiosity questions
1. Explain how people and events have influenced local community history. (2.4C)
1. How many names of early Mesquite pioneers can you name? *Think of street and school names.
​“Historic Markers | Mesquite, TX.” Mesquite Texas Real. Texas. Flavor, www.cityofmesquite.com/1281/Historic-Markers.