Settlers established the community of Tioga in November 1881 on the eastern edge of the East Cross Timbers, and it incorporated as a city in 1906. During Tioga's first decades, residents buried their loved ones on private land in family cemeteries. In February 1906, W.R. and Sally J. Gillespie deeded five acres of farmland to the local Woodmen of the World camp for use as a burial ground, and the first grave dates to that year. Many early headstones are Woodmen of the World markers. The community continued using and improving the cemetery, adding a pavilion in 1924 for funeral services. It remains a tie to generations of Tioga area residents and the final resting place for veterans of military conflicts dating to the Civil War, including both Union and Confederate soldiers, as well as Texas Senator Olin R. Van Zandt and the Rev H.G. Ball, a Primitive Baptist preacher who presided over the funeral service for U.S. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. An association maintains the burial ground for future generations.