First Street Cemetery
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
As the oldest public cemetery in Waco, First Street Cemetery is the resting place for members of Waco's early and diverse community. Burials include veterans, Masons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, Knights and Daughters of Tabor and Court of Calanthe. On April 16, 1852, George W. Edwards conveyed five acres of a tract acquired from Jacob de Cordova to the citizens of Waco for a graveyard. Additional acreage was conveyed to the city from the Fraternity of Bosque Lodge No. 92 and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Fences were never erected to establish a set boundary and accurate burials records were not kept. In the 1890s, burials were dug in tiers which resulted in the disturbance of previous burials. In 1968, after years of neglect, the Waco city council voted to relocate graves and/or markers in the lower terrace of the cemetery to the upper terrace. The lower terrace became a recreational campground known as Fort Fisher Park. In 2000, the campground was closed. In 2007, construction on the Texas Ranger Company "F" Headquarters and Education Center began in the lower terrace. During the construction, remains were discovered indicating that only headstones were relocated in 1968. Remains excavated between 2007 and 2010 were reinterred at Rosemound Cemetery. To eliminate future disturbances of remains at First Street Cemetery, the city council rededicated the cemetery on December 7, 2010. The cemetery is designated as a Historic Texas Cemetery and as a State Antiquities Landmark. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Deeded to Waco's citizens in 1852, First Street Cemetery became the growing town's oldest public burial ground, holding veterans and members of numerous fraternal orders. Left unfenced and poorly recorded, its graves were dug in overlapping tiers, and a later campground and construction disturbed the dead—prompting excavations, reinterments, and a formal rededication. Today it is recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery and State Antiquities Landmark.
Why it matters
Its troubled history is a cautionary tale about how growing cities have too often built over the graves of their own founders.
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Related people
- · George W. Edwards
- · Jacob de Cordova
Related events
- · Rededication of First Street Cemetery (2010)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Thomas Hudson Barron
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Born in Virginia in 1796, Thomas Hudson Barron fought at the Battle of New Orleans with the Kentucky Militia before joining the stream of settlers into Mexican Texas, appearing in Stephen F. Austin's 1831 registry of families. As a Ranger captain he oversaw the building of Fort Fisher on the Brazos in 1837 and became one of the earliest settlers of what would grow into Waco, later serving as the county's first court clerk. A street, a school, and a creek in the city still carry his name.
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Moore Cemetery
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