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Early Republic

Hammer-McFaddin-Harris Cemetery

Pasadena, Harris County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Established in 1851 and designated a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2010.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Established in 1851, this burial ground dates to the earliest years of Anglo settlement around what became Pasadena, when families claiming land along the Texas coast set aside private plots for their dead. Its combined family names reflect the intermarried settler households that founded the community. The state recognized its historical value with a Historic Texas Cemetery designation in 2010.

Why it matters

Pioneer family cemeteries like this one are among the oldest tangible records of a community's founders, preserving the names and kinship ties of those who first settled the land.

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The oldest graves here were dug by the 1890s, part of the town of North Galveston, itself carved in 1891 from the Republic of Texas townsite of San Leon first laid out in 1837. The great hurricane of 1900 destroyed the town, and in 1910 the land passed to Congressman Joe Eagle, who restored the old San Leon name and in 1920 deeded the burial ground to the community. Storms and erosion have swept away many graves and markers over the years, leaving the cemetery to carry what remains of the area's memory.