Historical Marker Society of America

Matthews and Robert Shanks of Alabama settled here with their families in 1859. A small farming community developed, and in 1870 a school was built on a one-acre site donated by R.C. Murray. Land beside the schoolyard became a public burial ground, known as Shanks Cemetery after Shanks Post Office opened in 1896. The earliest recorded burial was Burgess A. Whatley (1854-1892). In 1893 G.W. Bell deeded another half acre east of the graveyard. The school building was torn down in 1917. Shanks Cemetery Association has maintained the site since 1935.