Weatherford's town council established this cemetery in 1863 after surveying lots and staking the location, and remains previously buried in the town's unmarked streets were moved there at the mayor's direction. In 1877, historian H. Smythe called it a sadly neglected spot without a fence. By 1925, a civic league and cemetery association had formed, and their women members accomplished extensive improvements including beautifying the site, widening and gravelling the driveways, installing a water well and windmill, and employing a sexton to secure the grounds. Care declined in the 1930s and later, but restoration began in the late 1980s. Among an estimated 1,000 graves are Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Chester Bowen, trail drivers Oliver Loving and Boze Ikard, cattleman and Citizens National Bank founder J.R. Couts, Texas Governor S.W.T. Lanham and his son Congressman Fritz G. Lanham, veterans of many wars, and pioneers of early Texas history. The site continues to serve the area.