In 1881, African American farmer James “Jim” Champion (d. 1924) and his wife, Antonette (Cassady), purchased 80 acres on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. By the time the couple sold the land in 1902, a family cemetery existed on the property. The cemetery was later opened to those outside the Champion family and many founding members of the black community in Lewisville were buried at Champion. The earliest gravestone is that of Laura Wright (d. 1875). Macedonia Cemetery, formerly known as Mt. Olive Cemetery, was deeded in 1899 as a cemetery for the African American people of Lewisville. In 1900, deacons for Mt. Olive Colored Baptist Church (established 1885) bought the property for a church site and maintained the cemetery until at least the mid-20th century. The earliest gravestone is that of George McKenzie (d. 1880). In 1953, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seized the site of Champion Cemetery and surrounding properties by eminent domain as part of a flood control project that would eventually form Lewisville Lake. Official documents cite 51 graves from Champion Cemetery were reinterred to the Mt. Olive Cemetery site between June and December of 1953. Mt. Olive’s property was selected as a prime relocation site for the Champion burials due to the strong ties between community members buried in Champion and Mt. Olive. Sometime later, Macedonia Baptist Church, a Lewisville church organized in 1885, assumed care of Mt. Olive Cemetery, and the cemetery was renamed. Macedonia had close relationships to the community and families buried in both cemeteries. Three of the eight founders of Macedonia, John Gordon, Gilbert Brotherton and L.D. Berry, were interred at Mt. Olive. Today, these two still-active cemeteries on one site share a special unified history of the Lewisville community. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2022