After the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad established a railway line about eight miles southwest of Coleman in 1904, Valera developed around the train depot, with a business district parallel to the railroad that included a post office, hotel, bank, flour mill, cotton gin, opera house, grocery stores, blacksmith shop, cafe, and a water well in the middle of the street. In 1922, recognizing the need for a community cemetery, Mrs. Minnie K. Harris deeded more than five acres of land. One of two cemeteries serving the community, it contains more than 300 marked graves and at least five unmarked graves. The first recorded burial was Mrs. N.C. Kidwell in 1922. Many prominent local citizens are buried there, including Dr. H.H. Mitchell, who came to Valera in 1905 and, as the town's only doctor, helped establish the first school, served as a deacon in the Baptist church, and was president of the First State Bank, as well as local law enforcement officer Richard A. Pauly. The cemetery also contains the burials of veterans of the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.