History

The Southfork Cemetery is a historic burial ground located near the city of Gurdon, Arkansas. The cemetery dates back to the mid-1800s and has served as a final resting place for many of the areas early settlers and prominent citizens.

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Southfork Baptist Church was organized in 1856 under a brush arbor. The first church building was a two-story log structure built by the grandfather of Moores Ross. It was located in the front of the cemetery. He brought his slaves and his neighbor's slaves to hew out the logs. The church met in the downstairs part of the building and the Woodsmen of the World met upstairs. This building was in front of the cemetery. After a few years, this building burned down due to a woods fire and membership went back to meeting under a brush arbor. This continued until a little schoolhouse was built across the road from the original site of the church. They met in the schoolhouse until the present-day church was built in 1875.

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Men from sawmills contributed lumber and the men donated their work for the new church building. Mr. Bob Hall, the present Mrs. Eddy (Winnie Wells) Clark's great-grandfather, was a carpenter. (As told to Mrs. Thelma Dillard by the late Mr. Jess Carter, a long-time member, and deacon of the church joining Southfork early in life).

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Many years after the fire, the cemetery was evidently expanded into the area where the two-story building once stood. The two acres deeded to the church in 1869 were not for the cemetery but for the present-day building (or maybe the schoolhouse).

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Since the original church was built by slaves, the church and the cemetery probably existed by 1860 before the Civil War broke out. This also explains why the early graves in the middle of the cemetery are not marked. No one could afford tombstones during the war and for several years afterward.

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The oldest marked grave is Mary Applegate who died in 1870.

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The Southfork Cemetery has undergone several renovations and improvements over the years to ensure that it remains a dignified and respectful final resting place for the deceased. In 2008, a new entrance was constructed, and the cemetery's main road was repaved. In addition, the cemetery association has worked tirelessly to identify and preserve historic gravesites and tombstones.

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Today, the Southfork Cemetery remains an important part of Gurdon's history and culture. It serves as a reminder of the city's early settlers and the contributions they made to the growth and development of the community. The cemetery is open to the public, and visitors are welcome to explore its grounds and pay their respects to those buried there.