Wallis Hill Cemetery
Mont Belvieu, Chambers County, Texas
Cemeteries of Texas Coordinator: Dolores I. Bishop
Information provided by the State of Texas Atlas Site
Location:
10 mi. east of Mt. Belvieu on IH-10, one block from Wallisville
exit access road, then right on to Wallisville, left at first cattle guard,
then left at top of hill to cemetery
Marker :
Elisha H. R. and Sarah (Barrow) Wallis brought their family to
this part of Texas from Nachitoches Parish, Louisiana, in 1824. They settled on
Wallis Hill in early 1825; their home became a familiar stop for travelers. When
their son Elijah died in 1830, he was buried near the house. His was probably
the first interment in what became known as the Wallis Hill Cemetery, although his grave
is unmarked. When Sarah died in 1841, E. H. R. Wallis marked off land for the family
cemetery. Wallis was buried here upon his death in 1846. Over the years, the cemetery
was used for extended family members and other early residents, including at least one
veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. There are approximately 25 known graves in the
Wallis Hill Cemetery, many of them unmarked. Most date from the 19th century, since by
the 1870s, large colonies of ants rendered the land nearly useless for further burials.
Abandonment of this graveyard by area residents led to the establishment of the Wallisville
Cemetery in 1879. Only a few burials appear to have occurred here after that time.
One of the oldest Anglo cemeteries in what is now Chambers County, Wallis Hill
Cemetery serves as a reflection of the heritage of the area.