Collin County

George McGarrah Cemetery

Historical Marker Text

A member of the Peters Colony, George McGarrah (1804-1879) brought his family to this area in the 1840s. Prior to his arrival in Texas, McGarrah had lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he is credited with helping to build many of the historic structures still extant in that city. McGarrah's wife had died in Arkansas in 1838 while giving birth to their daughter, Harriett. George McGarrah and his three children established a new home near this site, and he later married Sarah Ford. The McGarrah Cemetery contains ten graves. George McGarrah had set aside one-seventh of an acre on his land to be used for a family cemetery. He was the first person buried here, in 1879. Two of his grandchildren, George W. (1870-1887) and Mattie A. (1874-1894) Ottenhausen, children of Harriet McGarrah and her husband Henry Ottenhausen, were the next interred in the family plot. Sarah Ford McGarrah was buried next to her husband in 1896. Also interred here are Harriett McGarrah Ottenhausen (1838-1930), Henry Ottenhausen (1839-1911), and his mother, Christina Ousenkoff Ottenhausen (1810-1904). There are three unmarked burials, one of which is that of a slave. 

1988

Location: from McKinney, take Eldorado Parkway about 4 miles east to Lakeforest Road, go north to North Briar Ridge Circle, go west to Old McGarrah Road, go north to Cemetery on west side of road