The Coats Cemetery, located in Sunnyvale, Dallas County, Texas is located on the boundary line of the two properties belonging to Samuel Coats and his son Thomas Dodson Coats. Thomas Coats property, File #2641, Nacogdoches 3rd. Clop, Filed March 6, 1860. The State of Texas, County of Dallas, Survey No.xxxx, of 480 acres of land, made for Thomas D.Coats by virtue of his Mercer Colony Certificate # 909, issued by xxxx for Mercer Colony on the 16 day of May 1851 for 640 acres of land, lying in Dallas county, on the waters of Duck Creek about 16 miles east from Dallas. Signed by Samuel Coats and R.W. Mathias. This cemetery's proven established date is 1853 with the burial of Martha J. Lawrence, first child of J.P.and Fannie (Coats) Lawrence, Born April 27, 1849; Died April 17, 1853. The unproven cemetery existence date could be 1847, with Mary Frances Coats, born April 5, 1847, but stone did not have death date. She was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (Paschall) Coats. This photo was taken in 2005. There are 14 marked graves and 5 possible unmarked graves with two located outside the fenceline north of the cemetery. One of the unmarked graves as a bois'd ark stump. The original fence around the cemetery were bois'd ark posts with white planks above and hog wire below. (Archeologist comments) When property was bought in 1984, only barb wire fence with cedar and metal posts was in place. The cemetery was always located in the middle of a cow pasture but since 2007, a housing development is in the process of being developed, backing up to the north side of the cemetery and was leaving it exposed. It was vandalized several times in 2008 so the owners of the land where the Coats Cemetery is located put a new tall fence around it in 2009.

Entrance photo to the Coats Cemetery in Sunnyvale, Dallas County, Texas. The graves are in an east/west direction.This picture taken in 2006

In August, September and October of 2008, this little Coats cemetery was vandalized. The owners of the land put a tall fence around the cemetery.2009