Place · United States
The history of Celina, one place at a time
Assembled from 2 dug tiles · 17 sourced records · last reviewed 18 September 2026
Celina grew up on Collin County prairie once broken by early farm families, whose burial grounds still mark the land. Bush Cemetery, laid out in 1862, and the George McGarrah Cemetery, set aside by a farming family in 1879, remain fixed points as the farms around them became ranches, subdivisions and roads.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Celina — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Celina
A cemetery outlasted the family farm around itA frontier burial ground still holds a name most of the county has forgotten. Singletree Court
1848–2019 Where the first settlers of this prairie still lie
Bush Cemetery has held Collin County's earliest farm families since 1862, two miles from this point. McKinney
1862–now
Celina in layers
Stonebridge Drive Baptist Church, in Collin County, lies about 1.3 kilometers from this spot. FamilySearch
from 1848
Williams Cemetery, a few miles from here, holds graves dating back to 1848, among the oldest recorded burial grounds in the county. FamilySearch
1862
Bush Cemetery, a few kilometers away near McKinney, has held burials since 1862, during the Civil War years. FamilySearch
January 20, 1866
A Dallas Herald edition from January 20, 1866, carried notices and advertisements mentioning McKinney, the county seat near this ground. Dallas Herald via Chronicling America
1879
The George McGarrah Cemetery near McKinney dates to 1879, part of the scattering of small family burial grounds that once served rural Collin County. FamilySearch
1879
The George Mcgarrah Cemetery in McKinney was established in 1879 and still lies about 1.7 kilometers from this spot. FamilySearch
1881
The Herndon Family Cemetery, roughly 3.6 kilometers away, dates to 1881 and marks one of the area's early settler burial sites. FamilySearch
1894
The McKinney Nursery issued a wholesale and retail catalog of fruit and ornamental trees for 1894 and 1895. Europeana / USDA
1894–1895
An 1894 catalogue for the McKinney Nursery, published for the 1894 and 1895 seasons, advertised fruit and ornamental trees and plants grown in this part of Collin County. Europeana / U.S. Department of Agriculture
1895
The County Poor Farm Cemetery, about 3.8 kilometers from here, dates to 1895 and holds those who died in the county's poorhouse system. FamilySearch
circa 1900
A small community called Foot was recorded in Collin County around 1900, about 2.6 kilometers from this ground, though it no longer exists as a place. FamilySearch
1940s
The Sunshine Cottonseed Company of McKinney published seed catalogs through the 1940s, part of the town's cotton-farming economy. Biodiversity Heritage Library via DPLA
1940s
Trade catalogs from the Sunshine Cottonseed Company of McKinney, issued between 1940 and 1949, promoted their certified cottonseed to Texas farmers. Biodiversity Heritage Library via DPLA
1953
Trinity Presbyterian Church in McKinney added a columbarium in 1953, about 2 kilometers from here. FamilySearch
2019
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in McKinney built its columbarium in 2019, roughly 2.5 kilometers away. FamilySearch
2026
A photograph shows a mobile phone station built onto the Hillsdale Drive water tower a few streets away. Wikimedia Commons
2026
Another photograph of the Hillsdale Drive water tower and its mounted mobile station survives from the same stretch of road. Wikimedia Commons
Questions about Celina
What is Celina known for historically?
Celina's history is bound up with the prairie farm families of Collin County, whose burial grounds — Bush Cemetery and the George McGarrah Cemetery among them — have outlasted the farms that once surrounded them.
What happened at Celina in 1862?
Bush Cemetery was established in 1862 on newly broken prairie near what is now Celina, holding the graves of Collin County's earliest farm families at a time when there was no church, courthouse or doctor nearby.
What happened at Celina in 1879?
The McGarrah family set aside land for the George McGarrah Cemetery in 1879, a family burial ground on their own farmland near McKinney, Texas, about a mile from what is now Singletree Court.
Did the farmland around these cemeteries survive?
No. The farm around the George McGarrah Cemetery was sold and built over, though the cemetery itself was never sold and has never moved. The land around Bush Cemetery likewise became ranches, subdivisions and paved roads while the cemetery stayed unmoved.
How far apart are Bush Cemetery and the George McGarrah Cemetery?
Bush Cemetery sits roughly two miles from the point recorded at McKinney, while the George McGarrah Cemetery lies about a mile from Singletree Court in Celina.