Williams Cemetery

The cemetery was established in the mid-1890s (around 1894) and has been in continuous use since then. It originally extended farther south toward 9th Street, where many Chinese railroad workers who helped build the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad (later Santa Fe) were buried. Those graves were later moved when that land was reclaimed.

Williams itself was founded in the early 1880s as a railroad town and lumber center. The cemetery grew along with the community and later served residents during the Route 66 era, when Williams became a popular stop on the highway (it was the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by I-40, in 1984).

The grounds are maintained by the City of Williams with help from volunteers and families. Each family is generally responsible for their own plots, which gives the cemetery a rustic, lived-in character typical of many Western pioneer burial grounds.