Texas State Cemetery

The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about 22 acres (8.9 ha) just east of downtown Austin, the capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and Vice-President of the Republic of Texas, it was expanded into a Confederate cemetery during the Civil War. Later it was expanded again to include the graves and cenotaphs of prominent Texans and their spouses.

Texas State Cemetery
Texas State Cemetery entrance
Location901 Navasota Street
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Coordinates30°16′01″N 97°43′34″W
Built1851
MPSEast Austin MRA
NRHP reference No.86001085
Added to NRHPMay 12, 1986

It is a popular tourist attraction and colloquially referred to as the "Arlington of Texas" because of the notoriety of those interred and proximity to the seat of government.[1]

The cemetery is divided into two sections. The smaller one contains around 900 graves of prominent Texans, while the larger has over 2,000 marked graves of Confederate veterans and widows. There is room for 7,500 interments; the cemetery is about half full, after including plots chosen by people who are eligible for burial.

Burial guidelines

The guidelines on who may be buried within the Texas State Cemetery were first established in 1953, and are currently set by Texas state law. Currently, all persons to be buried in the cemetery must be one of the following:[2]

  • A former member of the legislature or a member who dies in office.
  • A former elected state official or an official who dies in office.
  • State official appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature who served at least 10 years in the office. After September 1, 2015, this criterion may be used only upon approval of the State Cemetery Committee if it finds the official made a significant contribution to Texas history.[3]
  • Individual designated by governor's proclamation, concurrent resolution of the Legislature, or order of the State Cemetery Committee; but only after approval of the committee if it finds the individual made a significant contribution to Texas history. The statute as written permits the committee to deny burial under this criterion even if requested by the governor or Legislature.
  • The spouse of anyone meeting the above criteria.
  • The child of an eligible member, but only if he or she was dependent on another due to a long-standing physical or mental condition during the lifetime of one of the child's parents.

History
Texas flags flying at the cemetery
Confederate graves
Vietnam Veterans monument
Monument to the wounded of America's wars
Meditation area

After the death of Edward Burleson in 1851, the Texas Legislature arranged for his burial on land formerly belonging to Andrew Jackson Hamilton. In 1854, the Legislature established a monument at Burleson's grave-site for $1,000 and purchased the surrounding land. The burial ground was virtually ignored until the Civil War, when Texas Confederate officers killed in battle were buried there. In 1864 and 1866 more land was purchased for veterans' burials. An area of 1-acre (4,000 m2) was also set aside for graves of Union veterans (all but one later removed, to Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio). The remaining Union soldier is Antonio Briones, who was left at the request of his family. He is interred alone in the far northwest corner of the cemetery.

Because the Texas Confederate Men's Home and the Confederate Women's Home were located in Austin, more than two thousand Confederate veterans and widows are interred at the State Cemetery. Most were buried after 1889. The last Confederate veterans in the Cemetery were reinterred in 1944; the last widow, in 1963.

In 1932, the State Cemetery was little known and had no roads. There was a dirt road running through the grounds of the Cemetery linked to what was then called Onion Creek Highway. The road kept its highway status when Texas historian Louis Kemp brought it to the attention of the Texas Highway Department that the road running through the Cemetery should be paved. The roads, which are officially designated as State Highway 165, are dedicated to Kemp, and were for a time known as "Lou Kemp Highway". Kemp was also the driving force behind the reinterment of many early Texas figures in time for the Texas Centennial in 1936.

The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, but by the early 1990s, the State Cemetery had fallen into disrepair—suffering from vandalism and decay—and was unsafe to visit. In 1994, after noting the condition of the Cemetery, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock initiated a three-year project that added a visitor center and renovated the cemetery. In 1997, there was a re-dedication and a reopening of the State Cemetery.

A three-person Texas State Cemetery committee oversees operations at the cemetery. Benjamin M. Hanson (appointed by Governor Greg Abbott) is chairman. James L. Bayless (Speaker's appointment) and Carolyn Hodges (appointee of the lieutenant governor) also serve. The senior historian is Will Erwin.

Former Governor and United States President George W. Bush announced his intention to be buried in the State Cemetery. However, in August 2018, Bush decided he and his wife will be buried at his presidential center following their death.

Statistics

As of 2019, buried in the Texas State Cemetery are:

Davis Guards Medal recipients
  1. Michael Carr (Section:Confederate Field, Section 2 (D) Row:Q Number:34)
  2. David Fitzgerald (Section:Confederate Field, Section 1 (F) Row:P Number:7)
  3. John Flood (Section:Confederate Field, Section 2 (D) Row:V Number:21)
  4. William Hardin (Section:Confederate Field, Section 1 (F) Row:K Number:15)
  5. Thomas Sullivan (Confederate Field, Section 2 (D) Row:U Number:18)

Battle of San Jacinto veterans

Notable interments

Governors of Texas
  1. Peter Hansbrough Bell
  2. John Bowden Connally, Jr.
  3. Edmund Jackson Davis
  4. Miriam "Ma" Amanda Ferguson
  5. James "Pa" Edward Ferguson
  6. James Pinckney Henderson
  7. John Ireland
  8. Francis Richard Lubbock
  9. Dan Moody, Jr.
  10. Ann Willis Richards
  11. Hardin Richard Runnels
  12. Robert Allan Shivers
  13. Preston Earnest Smith
  14. Mark Wells White

Texas Rangers
  1. Stephen F. Austin
  2. Willis Thomas Avery
  3. Jesse Billingsley
  4. Joseph Graves Booth
  5. John Watkins Bracken
  6. Guy Morrison Bryan
  7. Ben Franklin Bryant
  8. George Christopher Brakefield
  9. Edward Burleson
  10. James Hughes Callahan
  11. Walter P. Callaway
  12. William Angelo Dial
  13. Homer Garrison
  14. John Grumbles
  15. Joseph Sidney Fletcher
  16. William Polk Hardeman
  17. John Reynolds Hughes
  18. Ben McCulloch
  19. Charles Edward Miller
  20. Daniel Webster Roberts
  21. James Lambert "Skippy" Rundell
  22. William Read Scurry
  23. Lamartine Pemberton "Lamar" Seeker
  24. William Tom
  25. William Alexander Anderson "Big Foot" Wallace
  26. Eleazar Louis Ripley Wheelock
  27. John Lemon Wilbarger
  28. Robert McAlpin Williamson
  29. Thomas C. Wilson
  30. William Delpard Wilson

Other
  • Crescent Pond
  • Opposite end of the pond
  • September 11, 2001, memorial
  • Main flagpole, on the hilltop
  • A section marker
  • Visitor center
  • Texas State Cemetery as seen from East 7th Street
  • Tomb of Albert Sidney Johnston.
gollark: So just say "it's night".
gollark: What? Why?
gollark: What matters is what time stuff actually happens, and the time of day that happens at depends on cultural attitudes.
gollark: That was not possible anyway.
gollark: They didn't anyway.

References
  1. Hashimoto, Raoul. "The Texas State Cemetery, "The Arlington of Texas"". Texas Escapes Online Magazine.
  2. Texas Government Code, Chapter 2165 (Section 2165.256, subsections (d), (e) & (f))
  3. HB 2206, 2015 Texas Legislature (Section 2)
  4. "Beto, George John." Handbook of Texas. Retrieved on August 8, 2010.
  5. Texas State Cemetery. "George Walker Bush".
  6. The Last Man on the Moon DVD 'Final Resting Place' 2015
  7. http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?pers_id=1091
  8. https://cemetery.tspb.texas.gov/pub/user_form.asp?pers_id=9430
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2011-06-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Texas State Cemetery
  11. Nichols, Irby C., Jr. (June 15, 2010). "TERRELL, ALEXANDER WATKINS". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  12. Texas State Cemetery. "Mary Andrus Jones".
  13. Texas State Cemetery
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