La Reunion Cemetery
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Burial place of French, Belgian, and Swiss settlers brought here 1855-58 by company for European American colonization in Texas. This site was on road from La Reunion to Willow Fish Traps set by the colonists in the Trinity. Early burials in this cemetery included aged French Grenadier Pere Lagogue; also a young child of colony director F. Cantagrel. The company failed, but certain families remained, including the Loupots, Remonds, Reverchons, and Santerres. They became business land cultural leaders in Dallas area, and used this cemetery as late as 1939 for family burials. Marker Sponsors: John R. Santerre Roy C. Santerre Mrs. George H. Santerre "Germain Santerre Family" Graneta Bilbo Goodwin Le Bonnet Bleu Garden Club
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the late 1850s a company recruited French, Belgian, and Swiss colonists to found La Reunion, an experiment in European settlement on the Texas prairie near the young town of Dallas. The venture failed within a few years, but a number of families—Loupots, Remonds, Reverchons, Santerres, and others—chose to stay, becoming business, agricultural, and cultural leaders in the growing city. This cemetery, holding early colonists like an aged French grenadier and a colony director's young child, remained in family use into the 1930s.
Why it matters
La Reunion is a striking chapter in America's immigration story, showing how a collapsed European colonization scheme still seeded a major Southern city with skilled settlers who helped build modern Dallas.
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Related events
- · La Reunion colony
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
La Reunion
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On this ground in 1854, European idealists founded La Reunion, a colony inspired by utopian social theory that drew French, Belgian, and Swiss settlers to the Texas prairie near the young town of Dallas. Though the ambitious experiment in communal living soon faltered, many colonists stayed on, enriching the region with their skills and culture. The Daughters of the American Revolution placed this marker in 1924 to remember them.
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