Merrilltown Cemetery
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
THIS BURIAL GROUND HAS SERVED THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE THE EARLY 1850s. MOST OF THOSE INTERRED HERE LIVED IN THE MERRILLTOWN COMMUNITY, WHICH CAPTAIN NELSON MERRELL (d. 1879) ESTABLISHED WHEN HE SETTLED HERE IN 1837. HE OPERATED THE POST OFFICE AND A STORE IN THE COMMUNITY. CAPTAIN MERRELL DEEDED THIS PROPERTY TO TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICT #9 IN 1856 FOR USE AS A BURIAL GROUND; HE ALSO DEEDED LAND FOR A CHURCH AND SCHOOL. MERRELL SERVED AS TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER (1852 – 1859) AND ASSISTED WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS AVENUE; HE IS ALSO RECOGNIZED AS A TEXAS RANGER FOR HIS WORK IN LEADING A GROUP OF RANGERS IN PROTECTING AUSTIN FROM ATTACKS BY NATIVE AMERICANS. THE OLDEST MARKED GRAVE IN MERRILLTOWN CEMETERY IS OF JULIA MERRELL (d. 1852), THE YOUNG DAUGHTER OF NELSON AND RACHEL MERRELL (d. 1862). ANOTHER NOTED BURIAL HERE IS OF LEMUEL SUMMERWELL WOODWARD (1813-1891), ANOTHER TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER (1860-1864). OTHERS INTERRED INCLUDE COMMUNITY LEADERS AND VETERANS OF MILITARY CONFLICTS DATING TO THE CIVIL WAR. CEMETERY FEATURES INCLUDE CURBING, VERTICAL STONES, OBELISKS, A WOODMAN OF THE WORLD GRAVE MARKER AND INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS (I.O.O.F.) GRAVE MARKERS. MERRILLTOWN RESIDENTS MAINTAINED THE GROUNDS UNTIL 1982, WHEN THE ROUND ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT WAS NAMED THE CEMETERY’S TRUSTEE. IN 1996, THE CALVARY WORSHIP CENTER ASSUMED THIS CHARITABLE TRUST FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND TODAY CONTINUES TO CARE FOR THE BURIAL GROUND. ALTHOUGH THIS AREA WAS ANNEXED INTO AUSTIN, MERRILLTOWN CEMETERY PERSISTS AS A REMINDER OF THE MERRILLTOWN COMMUNITY, AND SERVES AS A RECORD OF THIS AREA’S EARLY PIONEERS. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY – 2000
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Captain Nelson Merrell settled here in 1837, opening a store and post office and giving his name to the Merrilltown community. He deeded land for a church, a school, and this burial ground, served as a Travis County commissioner, helped build Congress Avenue in Austin, and led a company of Rangers guarding the settlement. The cemetery's graves—marked by obelisks, fraternal-order stones, and curbing—hold community leaders and veterans reaching back to the Civil War.
Why it matters
Merrilltown Cemetery preserves the memory of a frontier community that Austin eventually absorbed, capturing how one settler-official could shape a county's early civic and religious life.
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Related people
- · Nelson Merrell
- · Lemuel Summerwell Woodward
Themes & tags
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