Posts – Payne Gap Schoolhouse and Cemetery

Payne Gap Cemetery Directory

Learn about the history of the Payne Gap Cemetery and view a directory of all deceased

Payne Gap Cemetery “Lighting of Souls” Fundraiser

Participate in the “Lighting of Souls,” the Payne Gap Cemetery’s annual fundraiser, by sponsoring a loved one with a candle placed on their monument from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.

Ruby Gladys [Barrett] Cook (1903–1987)

Payne Gap Cemetery, People

This person is at rest at the Payne Gap Cemetery, and today we celebrate his or her life. Click the name to learn more. ☰

Donate to the Payne Gap Cemetery

Payne Gap Cemetery

Help support the maintenance, preservation, and improvement of the cemetery

A drone image captured on April 7, 2024, illustrates the power of perspective. Jesse Hurst, who owns and maintains this field located immediately south of the Payne Gap Cemetery and Schoolhouse campus, probably didn’t know that he was making art as he drove his tractor and plow, making these filigreed lines as viewed from above.

12-block Chair

Art and Design, Furniture

Our first piece of furniture made with the help our new CNC router

Payne Gap Cemetery Featured in THC’s “Grave Concerns in Texas”

Payne Gap Cemetery

The Payne Gap Cemetery was recently featured in the Texas Historical Commission’s “Grave Concerns in Texas” newsletter. It appears in the “honor roll” of Texas cemeteries earning Historic Texas Cemetery designations since October 2025; the newsletter also highlights the cemetery’s online presence.

States of Darkness

Art and Design

DJ Mo’ Hair!

DJ Mo' Hair

DJ Mo’ Hair’s shows feature music from the 1980s, particularly dance synth and alternative tracks. We draw from a range of genres related to the period, including electro, synthwave, electroclash, EBM, minimal house, techno, industrial, italo disco, coldwave, miminal synth, and many others.

“How About Another Round?”: Rick’s Bar, the Tradition of Drinking Businesses in the United States, and a History of Saloons in Hamilton, Texas

History, Places

Using Rick’s Bar in Hamilton, Texas, as a springboard, this essay explores the history of drinking establishments in the United States, focusing on the western saloon, and then tells the history of saloons in Hamilton, Texas.