BY TONY HARRINGTON
Zion Cemetery in Frisco, TX has no official address outside of FM (Farm to Market Road) 423 1 Mile North of Eldorado Parkway.
Though considered an active cemetery to this day, it has fallen into disrepair. Headstones are broken, monuments crumbling, structures dilapidated. Most visitors to the cemetery are photogs who arrive in droves in the spring to snap picture of the Blue Bonnet covered hilltops.
The cemetery is managed by the Zion Cemetery Association out of Aubrey, TX, over a half hour from the actual grounds.
A historical marker on the property indicates that the cemetery and Zion Methodist church was founded by early Methodist settlers from Kentucky who arrived to the area in the mid 1800s, lured by the promise of free land through the homestead act.
The settlement was spearheaded by the Hawkins family and as such, the area became known as Hawkins Settlement. By the 1850s, shortly after settlement, the harsh living environment began to take a toll. The first to start dying were the children, followed by the elderly. The rapid death toll made it imperative that a final resting spot be commissioned for the departed, and it was made official in 1860. Though by this time there were already a handful of elders buried atop the expansive hill overlooking the county.
An unwritten history claims that a portion of the cemetery houses the bodies of slaves, though they rest in unmarked graves and the exact location is lost to time.
The exact number of graves within the cemetery is unknown, though records indicate upward of 260 have been marked; with the aforementioned slave sites and other unmarked graves most likely pushing that number closer to the 350 mark.
Cemeteries all over the world are notable for reports of paranormal activity. The very idea that there are dead bodies just beneath our feet make even the most benign of final resting spot ripe for legend and story. Zion Cemetery is no exception.
Exacerbated by the condition of the cemetery, and the age of the oldest grave (that of an infant from 1856), visitors to the cemetery have shared countless tales of encounters with the paranormal.
There have been reports of full-body apparitions appearing at the foot of graves as if the spirits continue to mourn their loved ones, unaware that they too have crossed over.
Visitors have reported hearing unseen horses drawing unseen carriages, perhaps carrying the bodies to their final resting spot. There have been reports of disembodied crying, voices in hushed prayer, and the sounds of children singing spirituals.
Others have reported small hand-prints appearing on their vehicle as if children had been present when none were.
Photos have allegedly captured orbs and other anomalies, while EVP recordings have captured unheard conversations from those who no longer occupy the physical world.
Are these experiences valid, or simple wish fulfillment by curious seekers who visit the cemetery with the intent to capture paranormal activity?
Have you visited Zion Cemetery in Frisco, TX? If so what has been your experience? Is it simply a historical cemetery with beautiful blooms of Blue Bonnets, or do the dead continue on just beyond the gate? Share your stories with us in the comments below.
S.P.I.R.I.T 
I don’t know about any paranormal activity but it does look like a beautiful place to rest.
It’s quaint, but rather unkempt. In the end, I don’t think it matters, to us personally, where we end up. Cemeteries and other places of entombment are really for the living, aren’t they?