Garden of Memories Cemetery dates to the early days of Cottle County, which was formally organized in 1892. The oldest marked grave, that of infant Cyrenia Rickard, also dates to 1892. In 1906, the Paducah Ladies Cemetery Association began raising money to fence the burial ground, then known as Paducah Cemetery. In 1907, J.B. and Delia Earp formally conveyed land for the cemetery, which has been enlarged over the years with additional acquisitions, and a cemetery association formed with Judge J.H. Doolen as chairman. The site became known as Garden of Memories in 1948, and in 1950-51 the Sorosis Club funded a major landscaping project that included rusticated stone walls and a metal arch at the entryway. Those interred there include Ella Bird Dumont and Addie A. Brooks Barron, early active sponsors of the cemetery. Graves of military veterans there date to Civil War service, and one local veteran honored though not buried there is Vernon M. Matney, who died aboard the U.S.S. Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.