1841 First European-American settlement in
what is now Dallas.
1845 Texas annexed by the U. S.
1846 Dallas County established.
1848 First burial at what would later become
Western Heights Cemetery: Augustine Byram.
1855 the French colony known as La Réunion
founded on the south bank of the Trinity River.
1856 City of Dallas incorporated.
1881 Land for cemetery purchased for $15. Deed
designation as a "graveyard forever" by Z. E. Coombes and W. R.
Fisher (It is actually a cemetery, not a graveyard, since it is not next to a
church. The planned church wound up being built a few blocks away).
1884 Flanders Heights development created to
the immediate east of the cemetery.
1901 Flanders Heights renamed Mt. Airy.
1907 "Cement City" begins. Many
workers who fled the Mexican Revolution began working in cement villages.
1908 Great Trinity Flood.
1908 Mt. Airy area renamed to Western Heights
due to the flood. The name differentiates the space from the lower-lying areas
of West Dallas that flooded.
1920, approx., West Dallas Cemetery became
known as Western Heights Cemetery.
1922 Anna Struck buys 1/6 acre in the SE
corner of Western Heights Cemetery for a family plot. This is still shown as a
separate parcel of land by the Dallas Central Appraisal District.
1954 West Dallas, including the cemetery, is
annexed by Dallas.
1988 Historical Marker installed.
1992 The Dallas Genealogical Society surveys
and transcribes all headstones.
2006 Trinity Oaks Church of Christ becomes
defunct. Custody of the cemetery is transferred to Rolling Heights Church of
Christ in DeSoto.
2006 Frances James, "the cemetery
lady," along with the Dallas County Pioneer Association, begin to maintain
the cemetery.
2008 Fort Worth Avenue Development Group
starts doing maintenance at the cemetery with some gaps due to COVID and other
periods of organizational inactivity.
2022 Fort Worth Avenue Development Group holds
first annual fundraiser for the cemetery.
