Hays Cemetery is a long abandoned family cemetery located in Northwest Titus County on lands now being mined for coal. The cemetery is of some historical significance since it is estimated to have been started in the late 1850s-early 1860s. Since it is on mine property, access poses some difficulty, requiring escort and appointment. Further, landmarks that were once established no longer are valid. Lynch Harper in his “Titus County Cemeteries” state the cemetery is 400 yards west of the Mt. Pleasant and Paris (Old Paris) Road. He also speculated “There are some 8 or 10 graves in it, but only one monument. There are two vaults of rock and brick and one of those about all washed off in a ditch that runs across the West end of the cemetery, and some stones, or rocks, to indicate other graves”. This research found only one brick cairn and 2 native stones and since Harper’s survey, the only monument has toppled and lies in the gully. Although not endangered by not being fenced, there are remains of a barbed wire fence enclosing the cemetery (barbed wire and cedar posts). The worst threat to the cemetery is the continued erosion of the area from flooding. Harper’s earlier pictures indicate the land has subsided greatly and caused the monument to topple. It is speculated some of the other graves may have been washed away. Now that the monument is toppled, it will soon be lost as limbs, leaves, and other vegetation decay over it and the eroding soil washes over it. No attempt is made to maintain the area.

No directions to the cemetery are given since special permission must be obtained from mine property managers.Global Positioning System recordings were: 33^o12.835'N 095^o01.678'W