Alta Loma Cemetery
Santa Fe, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1897, this burial ground served the ranching and farming community of Alta Loma. In 1893 the Alta Loma Investment and Improvement Company located in Colorado established the town site, whose name means "High Land", in Spanish. IN 1894 William Skirvin, who is buried here, led the first party of settlers to the new town. When the investment company established Alta Loma it set aside land for cemetery use. However it was not until 1897 when the company presented the deed to the town for this property. The first burial here occured that year, when the infant son of the Stobart family died. others interred includ members of eary pioneering families who raised longhorn cattle in the area, as well as residents of other near by settlements. in addition, community and buisness leaders, immigrants, teachers, preachers, veterans of military conflicts dating to World War I, are also burried here The Alta Loma cemetery association, organized in 1904, continue to maintain the community burial ground. Cemetery features include curbed plots, verticle stones, false crypts, grave slabs and statuary. In 1978 Santa Fe incorporated Alta Loma into its city limits. As one of the few remaining vestiges of Alta Loma, this burial ground is a reminder of the non-existant settlement. It continues to serve as a testament to the pioneering men and women who resided here long ago and is a record of their once thriving community. Historic Texas Cemetery 2007
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1897, this cemetery served the ranching and farming community of Alta Loma, a town whose Spanish name means high land, laid out by a Colorado investment company in the 1890s. The first settlers arrived in 1894, and the burial ground holds early pioneering families who raised longhorn cattle, along with teachers, preachers, immigrants, and veterans of conflicts dating to World War I. A cemetery association organized in 1904 has maintained the grounds ever since.
Why it matters
As one of the few remaining traces of Alta Loma, the cemetery is a lasting record of the pioneer families who built a thriving Gulf Coast farming and ranching community.
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Related people
- · William Skirvin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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