Hebrew Cemetery
Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Jewish settlers came to the Brownsville/Matamoros area in the mid-1840's. In 1868 one half acre of land next to the city cemetery was purchased by the Hebrew Benevolent society from Charles Stillman for $1. Victims of an 1858 yellow fever epidemic, who were originally buried in the city cemetery, were later reinterred here. This was the only Jewish burial ground to serve the lower Texas Valley and Matamoros until 1950. Among the many civic and business leaders buried here are immigrants from Europe and Veterans from every American War since 1845.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Jewish settlers reached the Brownsville and Matamoros borderlands in the mid-1840s, and in 1868 the Hebrew Benevolent Society bought a half-acre beside the city cemetery for a single dollar. Victims of an 1858 yellow fever epidemic were reinterred here, and for generations this was the only Jewish burial ground serving the lower Rio Grande Valley. Among its graves lie European immigrants and veterans of every American war since the 1840s.
Why it matters
It documents the deep, often overlooked roots of a Jewish immigrant community on the Texas-Mexico border, woven into the region's commercial and civic life from its earliest American years.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Brownsville City Cemetery
Brownsville, TX
Tombstones here date to the late 1850s, though the city did not formally acquire the ground until 1868. Among its graves lie some of the earliest settlers of the lower Rio Grande Valley — the Rev. Hiram Chamberlain, whose daughter Henrietta married rancher Richard King; a Mexican War surgeon; and early city and county leaders. Above-ground crypts, ornate ironwork, and epitaphs in English, French, Spanish, and German mirror the border town's mingled cultures.
Cisneros House
Brownsville, TX
In 1926, Mexican-born pharmacist Manuel J. Cisneros-Garcia and his wife Aurora built a home in Brownsville's West End that deliberately spoke two cultural languages at once. Its brick walls and clay-tile roof nodded to Mexico, while dormer hoods and gabled eaves borrowed from Anglo-American tradition — an 'eclectic chalet' that mirrored life on the border. The couple had risen to prominence in the city's business and cultural circles, and their house made that dual identity visible in stucco and tile.
Manautou House
Brownsville, TX
Enrique Manautou, a native of Mexico who became one of Brownsville's leading merchants and civic figures, commissioned this family residence in 1925 from local architect Edward Guy Holliday. Its hipped tile roof and broad, sheltering eaves make it a rare Texas example of the Prairie School style pioneered in the Midwest. The Manautou family kept the home for decades after his death, and it endures as a border-city landmark.
Barreda House
Brownsville, TX
Built in 1928–29 for Celestino Pardo Barreda, a Spanish immigrant who arrived in Texas in 1872, this two-story Spanish Colonial Revival house showcases twisted cast-stone columns, iron balconies, and a Mission parapet by architect Ben Clark. Barreda built a mercantile business into influence across banking and agriculture in the lower Rio Grande Valley. The home stayed in his family for more than six decades.