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Cottondale, Texas: Grave of Machine Gun Kelly

George "Machine Gun" Kelly was a 1930s gangster with a flair for self-promotion. No one claimed his body when he died, so he's buried here, under a gravestone intentionally misspelled "Kelley."

Cottondale Cemetery

Address:
County Rd 3571, Cottondale, TX
Directions:
Cottondale Cemetery. From Hwy 114 (between Boyd and Bridgeport) turn south onto Hwy 51. Drive a little over one mile. Turn west on FR 2123. Drive 3.5 miles. At the Diamond Shamrock Grocery turn south onto CR 3585. Drive about a hundred yards, then turn right onto CR 3571. The cemetery is behind the Community Chapel on the left. You enter on the east side of the cemetery; Machine Gun's grave is in the northwest quarter (Section 2), the first gravestone in Row 11.
Admission:
Free
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Visitor Tips and News About Grave of Machine Gun Kelly

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Grave of Machine Gun Kelly.

Grave of Machine Gun Kelly

Peaceful resting place, with multiple stones from the late 1800s.

[Swindk, 07/11/2019]

George Kelly Barnes loved his Thompson submachine gun.

Machine Gun Kelly.

Machine Gun Kelly Grave

The marker is still there. For some reason, coins were left on the marker.

[Stacy, 08/11/2014]

Bus fare to heaven or hell? If MGK was alive, he might have killed for that money.

Machine Kelly's grave.

Grave of Machine Gun Kelly

George "Machine Gun" Kelly spent 17 years on Alcatraz as inmate number 117, boasting of and exaggerating his past escapades to other inmates, and was quietly transferred back to Leavenworth in 1951. He died of a heart attack at Leavenworth on July 18, 1954, his 54th birthday, and is buried at Cottondale Texas Cemetery with a small headstone marked "George B. Kelley 1954."

His body was never claimed, so he is buried in one of his accomplice's family plots. The name "Kelly" was intentionally misspelled as a measure to protect the grave, but the cemetery map at its entrance clearly states that "Machine Gun Kelly" is buried there in Row 11.

[Evans, 08/02/2014]

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In the region:
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