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Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District

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Coordinates: 29°25′08″N 98°27′50″W / 29.419°N 98.464°W / 29.419; -98.464
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Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District
Anchor Masonic Lodge Cemetery
Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District is located in Texas
Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District
Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District
Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District is located in the United States
Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District
Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District
LocationRoughly bounded by Nevada, New Braunfels, Paso Hondo, Palmetto, Potomac, St. James, Pine, E. Commerce, Dakota, Monumenta, San Antonio, Texas
Coordinates29°25′08″N 98°27′50″W / 29.419°N 98.464°W / 29.419; -98.464
Area103 acres (42 ha)
NRHP reference No.00000772[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 11, 2000

The Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District, also known as the Eastside Cemetery Historic District, is a 103-acre complex collection of the oldest cemeteries in San Antonio, all established between 1853 and 1904.[2] The individual cemeteries in the district were once part of land acreage that the City of San Antonio parceled off and sold to local churches and other organizations to be used as their private cemeteries.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.[1]

The cemeteries are notable for their layout and size, their diversity of design (from simple to formal), their funerary monuments (from works of accomplished sculptors to folk design), and for the array of community leaders interred there. While burials in 24 of the cemeteries are predominantly Anglo, seven cemeteries are solely or largely African American. There are scattered Hispanic burials, though the majority of Hispanics in the 19th century were interred in San Fernando Cemetery, established in ca. 1855 on San Antonio's west side.[2]

The exact number of individual cemeteries in the complex is either 31 or 32, depending on the sourcing. Officially, the count is usually 31. However, the sourced table below contains 32 listings. San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department puts the number at 31. Both the University of the Incarnate Word and the San Antonio Conservation Society list 32.[4][5]

By far, the largest burial ground in the complex is the San Antonio National Cemetery, approximately one square block in size. It was created in 1867, when the City of San Antonio parceled off a plot of land from its municipal cemetery and donated it to the Federal Government. Within the grounds are the graves of veterans of the American Civil War, both those who served in the Confederate States Army, as well as Union soldiers who served in the conflict and had originally been buried elsewhere. It is believed that older graves predating the American Civil War were also moved to the cemetery, as private monuments. Over 300 of the graves are unknown soldiers. Among the dead are African American Buffalo Soldiers, and other military veterans of all races. Thirteen Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, four of whom are buried as "unknown soldiers", rest in the cemetery.[3]

List of cemeteries in the district

[edit]
Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District
Property Image Address Notes Ref(s)
Agudas Achim Cemetery 1400 E. Crockett [6] [7]
Alamo Masonic Lodge Cemetery 1703 Commerce St. E [7]
Anchor Masonic Lodge Cemetery 1701 Commerce St. E [8]
Beacon Light Masonic Lodge No. 50 Cemetery 200 Chestnut [9]
City Cemetery No. 1 [10]
City Cemetery No. 2 [10]
City Cemetery No. 3 [10]
City Cemetery No. 4 [10]
City Cemetery No. 5 [10]
City Cemetery No. 6 [10]
Confederate Cemetery (San Antonio) [11]
Dignowity Cemetery Poyomac St [12]
Dullnig Family Plot [10]
Emmanuel German Lutheran Cemetery 325 New Braunfels Ave S [13]
Grand United Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery [10]
Hermann Sons Cemetery – Harmonia Lodge No. 1 [10]
Hermann Sons Cemetery [10]
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery [10]
Knights of Pythias Cemetery 2102 Commerce St E [14]
St. Michael's Polish Catholic Cemetery [10]
Nat Lewis Plot & Mausoleum [10]
Old German Lutheran Cemetery [10]
San Antonio Lodge No. 1 Cemetery [10]
San Antonio National Cemetery
517 Paso Hondo Street [10]
St Elmo Lodge No. 25 Knights of Pythias Cemetery [10]
St. John's Lutheran Cemetery [10]
St. Joseph's Society Catholic Cemetery [10]
St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery [10]
St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery [10]
St. Peter Claver Catholic Cemetery [10]
Temple Beth-El Cemetery 1350 E Crockett St [10][15]
United Brothers of Friendship Cemetery Otis E. Fitzgerald, president of the local NAACP buried there. [10][16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Mariah Pfeiffer; Sally Victor (June 22, 1999). National Register of Historic Places Registration: Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District / Eastside Cemetery Historic District (PDF) (Report). National Archives. (Downloading is slow).
  3. ^ a b "San Antonio National Cemetery". www.nps.gov. US National Park Service. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  4. ^ "Historic Cemeteries & Burial Parks". www.sanantonio.gov. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "Old San Antonio City Cemeteries Historic District (Eastside Cemetery Complex) : master plan". Eastside San Antonio Economic Development Council. San Antonio Conservation Society. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "Jewish Cemeteries in San Antonio, Texas". www.kosherdelight.com. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Texas 2021, p. 1.
  8. ^ Texas 2021, p. 2.
  9. ^ Texas 2021, p. 4.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Jennings, Frank W. "City Warned to Protect its Historic Cemeteries – Journal of San Antonio | Journal of the Life and Culture of San Antonio". www.uiw.edu. University of the Incarnate Word. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  11. ^ Palacios, Jolly (July 6, 2015). "On San Antonio's Eastside, Confederate Flag Flies High And Proud Over Soldiers' Graves". Texas Standard. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  12. ^ Texas 2021, p. 12.
  13. ^ Texas 2021, p. 13.
  14. ^ Texas 2021, p. 29.
  15. ^ "Our Cemeteries – Temple Beth-El | San Antonio". Temple Beth-El. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  16. ^ "Fitzgerald, Otis E." Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

Additional sourcing

[edit]

Texas, San Antonio (2021). "City of San Antonio Designated Historic Landmarks" (PDF). City of San Antonio.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Faulkner, Frank S.; Faulkner, Linda (2014). San Antonio Cemeteries Historic District. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1467131865.
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