Historical Society plans Ghosts of Southlake Past cemetery tour

Long before Southlake Town Square and Dragon football, this land west of Grapevine had to be tamed by early settlers. They included veterans from the War of 1812 and the Civil War and others who lived and died in the unincorporated farmland.

Many of their stories will come to life in the Ghosts of Southlake Past, a cemetery tour of both Lonesome Dove Cemetery and Hood Cemetery, at 7 p.m. Nov. 7. Actors will be stationed at key tombstones to tell the stories of the people who are laid to rest there.

Tickets are available at Eventbrite.com or at southlakehistory.org. A limited number of tickets will be available the night of the event.

Mother Nature provided the perfect setting for last year’s event with a chill in the air and a light mist. Connie Cooley, SHS president, said she’s hoping for similar weather for the second annual Ghosts of Southlake Past event.

"Last year was very successful," she said. "We’ve decided we’re going to make it an annual event. We encourage families to come out to this great community event."

There will be several actors at each cemetery, including Mayor Laura Hill and Librarian Cynthia Pfledderer.

Other stories include cowboys, horse thieves and preachers. The tales come from family histories and digging into cemetery records.

"We have done an extensive amount of research on the area over the years," Cooley said.

Paul Porter, a senior at Carroll Senior High School, will portray a Confederate lieutenant from a Dallas artillery regiment.

"The young lieutenant was from this general area and I’m going to be acting as him and going through the story of his life," said Porter, who participates in reenactments as a hobby.

The young history buff has actually got uniforms from most of the major wars of the 20^th Century, too.

The Lonesome Dove Cemetery, located on Dove Road, has graves dating back to the 1840s, making it one of the oldest cemeteries in Tarrant County, Cooley said. This once thriving community was called Lonesome Dove and included a school and general store.

The Hood Cemetery on Peytonville Road features Civil War veteran Spencer Graham and others.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Historical Society plans Ghosts of Southlake Past cemetery tour."