05/05/2026
The Rockwall Breakfast Club is completing a four-year project on May 6, 2026. The club was alerted by one of their flag subscribers in July 2022 of an African American veterans’ cemetery that very few people in the community knew anything about.
Gardenhire Cemetery is tucked away in a residential subdivision and graves that are obvious have headstones dated from World War I and World War II. Nine graves have been identified, and more are suspected to be there, but do not have grave markers or headstones.
When informed and verified, the Rockwall Breakfast Club formed a committee and reached out to the Rockwall County Historical Foundation and also brought in a representative from the Texas Historical Commission. THC guided the process to designate Gardenhire Cemetery as a Texas Historical Landmark site. Much research was required to identify each of the nine people buried there and find their stories and find the title deed and history of the cemetery.
A long story made short is that no one knows how the Gardenhire name became associated with the cemetery. No one named Gardenhire is buried there. The title deed brought to light that the official name is Memorial Park Cemetery. So, it is designated Memorial Park, aka Gardenhire, Cemetery.
Rockwall Breakfast will also do whatever is necessary to X-Ray the remainder of the cemetery location to determine if there are anymore people buried there.
It took almost four years to bring this project to a completion, but the club members all agree it was definitely a worthy project for the Rockwall community. The May 6 dedication ceremony will include the unveiling of the Texas Historical plaque, patriotic music and words from city and THC officials.
This all happened because Rockwall Breakfast has developed a very successful US Flag program. It has been a tremendous way for the community to appreciate the efforts of Rockwall Breakfast Rotary. Currently, their flag program sports over 2170 flags and they expect many more, the closer we get to the 250th celebration of America.
Join us this Wednesday at 10 AM for the dedication ceremony. 208 Woodpark Ln, Rockwall, TX 75087