Whitt was officially established in 1877, though permanent settlement in the area had begun about 1855. Originally a farming community, it became a stagecoach stop for travelers between Weatherford and Jacksboro and later developed into a regional education center with Whitt Seminary and Parker Institute, which operated there between 1881 and 1900. Between 1876 and 1879, Oscar Grantham donated land for burial purposes, and the graveyard has served as a community burial ground since at least 1879. The oldest marked burial, Margaret A. Gipson, dates to that year, but more than 100 unmarked graves suggest the cemetery was active earlier. J.N. and M.L. Johnston later donated additional land to enlarge it. Now more than eight acres in size, it contains more than 1,000 graves, including those of pioneer settlers and veterans of the Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I and II, Korea, and Vietnam. Since 1990, it has been maintained by a cemetery association and remains an important cultural resource in the area.