LILAC, TEXAS

Milam County, Central Texas South

FM 487 and 3061
5 miles E of Davilla
10 miles N of Thorndale
SW of Cameron the county seat
58 miles NE of Austin

Lilac Area Hotels › Cameron Hotels

Lilac School, 1901
"The boy with the arrow overhead is Henry Baker" - James
See Texas Schoolhouses

There is a historic marker at the above intersection across the street from the Graves Cemetery.

In the spring the cemetery blooms with the flowers of hundreds of irises.

The highest reported population at Lilac was 100 people in 1884. It lost its post office in 1905 and the population fell to 40 by the end of the 1930s.

Today it is what is known as a "dispersed rural community."

The Headstone of the Graves Family
TE Photo 2001
See Texas Cemeteries

Historical Marker

Lilac

Primarily a farming and stockraising settlement, Lilac was originally known as Oak Point. Dr. John H. Graves, a dentist and planter, brought his family to Milam County in 1858. The community which developed around his farm was named Lilac in 1883 when a U. S. post office was established. The Graves family continued to reside in the area for generations, donating land for a school, Baptist church, and Methodist encampment. (See Forum below) At its height Lilac included two stores, a cotton gin, blacksmith shop, and homes. It declined after a 1921 flood and the Great Depression.
(1990)

Historical Marker

Lilac Cemetery

Dr. John Herndon Graves (1807-1889) and his family settled in this area in 1858. They acquired several large tracts of land over time, and Dr. Graves' daughter and her husband deeded the land around this site for Lilac Baptist Church in 1880. It was intended for use as a cemetery as well. According to oral history, another area resident subsequently deeded a strip of land across the south end of the cemetery. (See Forum below) The earliest marked grave on this site is that of Calvin McCormick (d. 1870). Dr. John H. Graves' marker indicates that he was the earliest-born of those interred here. Other burials of interest include four Civil War veterans, one Spanish-American War veteran, nine veterans of World War I and a number of veterans of other wars and conflicts. Lilac Cemetery continues as a chronicle of Milam County history.
(2000)

Lilac, Texas Forum

Subject: Lilac, Texas
The old church ground, old school ground, and the cemetery land was donated by the Richmon family, not the Graves as proclaimed on the historical marker at the corner of FM 487 and FM 3061. The Wilson family has held the title to all of these properties for over 100 years before giving them to the Graves. - Sincerely, Fred Wilson, January 13, 2008

A well-built and detailed outhouse
TE Photo 2001

Take a road trip

Lilac, Texas Nearby Towns:
Cameron the county seat
Davilla
Thorndale
Austin
See Milam County | South Central Texas

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