Founders Memorial Cemetery, also known as Founders Memorial Park, is the oldest cemetery in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Founded in 1836, it was originally known as "City Cemetery", and opened in conjunction with the founding of the City of Houston in what is now Fourth Ward near the edge of

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...

. The cemetery is owned and operated by the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, and is also a public park. The two-acre site is a designated "Texas Historic Cemetery" by the

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Historic La ...

, and features many

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

s from citizens of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

including co-founder of Houston

John Kirby Allen John Kirby Allen (1810 – August 15, 1838), was a co-founder of the city of Houston and a former member of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives. He was born in Canaseraga Village, New York (the present day hamlet of Sullivan in the ...

and veterans of the Texas Revolution. Consequently, the cemetery contains the second-most Texas Centennial Monuments, behind only the

Texas State Cemetery The Texas State Cemetery (TSC) is a cemetery located on about 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 ...

. It lies adjacent to Beth Israel Cemetery, which is the oldest

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

cemetery in Texas.

History

The cemetery opened in 1836 as simply "City Cemetery" to accommodate a growing number of deaths in Houston. The chosen site was considered to be on the outskirts of town. However, by 1840, the cemetery was nearly full. Another city cemetery at the present-day location of Jefferson Davis Hospital was created, and this site eventually became known as "Old City Cemetery" to differentiate it from others. In April 1936, the cemetery was restored by the San Jacinto Centennial Association, and it was officially named "Founders Memorial Park". In 1947, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department began to maintain the cemetery.

Notable interments

One of the most notable interments of the cemetery is co-founder of Houston,

. In addition many veterans of the Texas Revolution are interred here. Also interred here is Rebecca Lamar, who was the mother of the second

President of the Republic of Texas The president of the Republic of Texas ( es, Presidente de la República de Tejas) was the head of state and head of government while Texas was an independent republic between 1836 and 1845. History and duties The Republic of Texas was formed ...

Mirabeau Lamar Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 25, 1859) was an attorney born in Georgia, who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was elec ...

. A

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

was erected here for

Mary Smith Jones Mary Smith Jones (July 24, 1819 – December 31, 1907) was the last First Lady of the Republic of Texas, as wife of Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic. She was the first president of the newly founded Daughters of the Republic of Te ...

, who was a former First Lady of Texas. The tomb of her first husband, Hugh McCrory, a

Texian Army The Texian Army, also known as the Revolutionary Army and Army of the People, was the land warfare branch of the Texian armed forces during the Texas Revolution. It spontaneously formed from the Texian Militia in October 1835 following the Ba ...

veteran, is located at this cemetery. Also interred at Founders Memorial Cemetery is

James Collinsworth James Thompson Collinsworth (1802 – July 11, 1838) was an American-born Texian lawyer and political figure in early history of the Republic of Texas. Early life Collinsworth was born in 1802 Davidson County, Tennessee. His father, Edward Collin ...

, who was a signer of the

Texas Declaration of Independence The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and was formal ...

, first Chief Justice of the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the supreme court, court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the ...

, an interim

Secretary of State of Texas The Secretary of State of Texas is one of the six members of the executive department of the State of Texas in the United States. Under the Constitution of Texas, the appointment is made by the governor of Texas, with confirmation by the Texas S ...

, and Republic of Texas Senator. Another signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, John W. Moore is located here as well. A friend of

William B. Travis William Barret "Buck" Travis (August 1, 1809 – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army. He died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. Tr ...

, Moore eventually became the first Sheriff of Harris County, and later an alderman of the City of Houston.

References

External links

* {{Fourth Ward, Houston Cemeteries in Harris County, Texas Cemeteries in Houston History of Houston Parks in Houston Fourth Ward, Houston

History

Notable interments

See also

References

External links