Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
Mercedes, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This cemetery was established in 1913 on land give by the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company to Immanuel Lutheran Church. The cemetery has served Lutherans throughout the Rio Grande Valley. The oldest grave is that of Wilhelm Schumacher, who died in 1911 and was reinterred here from his family farm when the cemetery was established. Gravestones bear the names of many German, Norwegian, Finnish, and Russian settlers who immigrated to this area from the U.S. Midwest, as well as Hispanic names. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1913 on land donated by the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company, this cemetery has long served Lutheran families across the Rio Grande Valley. Its oldest grave belongs to Wilhelm Schumacher, who died in 1911 and was reinterred here from his family farm. The headstones carry German, Norwegian, Finnish, and Russian names of settlers who came south from the U.S. Midwest, alongside Hispanic names of the wider community.
Why it matters
The cemetery records the early-twentieth-century wave of Midwestern immigrant farmers drawn to the newly irrigated Rio Grande Valley, and their blending into a Hispanic borderland.
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Related people
- · Wilhelm Schumacher
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery
Mercedes, TX
Mercedes was laid out by a land-improvement company in 1907 during the railroad-driven boom that opened the Lower Rio Grande Valley to farming and new towns. At the Oblate order's request the company set aside ground for Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church, dedicated in 1909, and this adjoining cemetery received its first marked burial that December. With thousands of graves, it became the resting place for townspeople who were not buried on the surrounding private ranches.
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church
Mercedes, TX
After a land company donated ground in 1908, Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church was dedicated on Hidalgo Street in 1909, gaining its first resident pastor in 1912 and, in 1922, a new brick church under Father Ivor Gourmelen. From 1915 to 1961 the Sisters of Mercy ran a parochial school, and the parish became the mother church for seven other congregations while fostering a dozen missions across Hidalgo and Cameron counties. It stood at the center of Catholic life in the Mercedes area.
Temple Beth Israel
Mercedes, TX
During the 1910s, Jewish families across Hidalgo and Cameron Counties gathered to form a small congregation in the Rio Grande Valley, worshipping in rented rooms with lay readers and a visiting student rabbi for the high holy days. In 1935 they built Temple Beth Israel, designed by Weslaco architect Newell Waters, its members serving the region as merchants, jewelers, and newspaper publishers. As nearby McAllen and Harlingen grew, the congregation dwindled and voted to dissolve in 1948, its members joining neighboring temples.
The Rev. Pierre Yves Keralum
Weslaco, TX
Pierre Yves Keralum, born in France in 1817, was ordained an Oblate priest at Marseilles in 1852 and that same year came to South Texas with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. A trained architect, he left his mark on churches including Our Lady of Refuge in Roma and the cathedral in Brownsville, all while riding vast circuits to minister to the region's scattered faithful. He vanished on the trail in 1872, and his remains were not found for ten years — earning him the name 'The Lost Missionary.'