Peckerwood Hill, February 10, 2012.
An “X” or “EX” before the TDC number means “Executed by the state.” Peckerwood Hill is where you end up if you die in prison in Texas and there’s no one to claim your body, or the family won’t pay for burial. The site was renamed Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery, after the man who took over maintenance of the cemetery in 1962. Prior to that, no records were kept. Markers in the mid-1800s were simple wooden crosses, and many of those had disappeared by mid-1900s. At least 2,000 are buried there now. These days, the name of the deceased is engraved on a simple tablet marker.
