Port O' Connor Cemetery
Port O' Connor, Calhoun County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Late in the 19th century, a small settlement named Alligator Head, named for its particular landscape, developed on the coast of Matagorda bay in Calhoun County. In 1910, the Calhoun County Cattle Company filed a plat for a town site and named it Port O’Connor in honor of tom m. O’Connor of Victoria from whom the land was purchased. With the establishment of the town, a cemetery site was needed for the rapidly growing community. The first known burial in the cemetery is that of Lola May McCarty in 1913. The oldest marked grave is that of Juan Pena (1851-1919) but it is highly likely that there are many unmarked graves. Located on the Texas coast, the cemetery is subject to the harsh effects of the elements. The hurricanes of 1919, 1942 and 1945 swept the town of port O’Connor and damaged the cemetery. High winds and rain during these storms destroyed the cemetery and many grave markers were displaced. The cemetery is the final resting place for many key members of the community. Members of several lighthouse keeping families of the Matagorda Island lighthouse are buried here. Some graves from Saluria on Matagorda Island were reinterred here due to erosion. Arranged in an east to west formation, the gravestones are comprised of marble, wood, granite, plastic and concrete. Tombstone decorations include ships, anchors, shells and driftwood, reflecting the saltwater heritage of the town. This historic cemetery reflects the determination and survival spirit of port O’Connor.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Calhoun County Cattle Company laid out Port O'Connor in 1910, the fast-growing town soon needed a burial ground, and the first known grave was dug in 1913. Exposed on the open coast, the cemetery has been battered by the hurricanes of 1919, 1942, and 1945, which scattered and destroyed many markers. It holds lighthouse-keeping families from Matagorda Island and graves reinterred from eroding Saluria, its headstones carved with ships, anchors, and shells.
Why it matters
This weather-worn cemetery preserves the maritime heritage and hard survival of a Gulf Coast community, where even the resting places of the dead had to withstand the sea.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Lola May McCarty
- · Juan Pena
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Port O'Connor
Port O'Connor, TX
In 1909 the Calhoun County Cattle Company platted a townsite on old ranch land known as Alligator Head, naming it Port O'Connor for the rancher who had sold the property. Ringed on three sides by bay water and reached by an excursion rail line, it grew into a coastal resort of hotels and shops. Battered repeatedly by Gulf storms—most devastatingly by Hurricane Carla in 1961—the town rebuilt each time, finding new life as a fishing and hunting destination.
The Chihuahua Road
Port Lavaca, TX
Between 1844 and 1887, the booming port of Indianola became the eastern anchor of the Chihuahua Road, an overland trade route running all the way to the silver-mining districts of northern Mexico. More direct than rival trails, it drew hundreds of wagons and Mexican carretas that outfitted at Indianola for a grueling haul through San Antonio, the Big Bend country, and across the Rio Grande. The trade seeded dozens of West Texas towns before an 1877 hurricane and the rise of railroads brought the road's era to an end.
The Great Camel Experiment
Indianola, TX
In 1856 and 1857 some seventy-five camels waded ashore at Indianola, imported from North Africa and the Middle East for a bold U.S. Army experiment. Championed by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis and approved by Congress in 1855, the animals were meant to serve as pack beasts across the deserts of the Southwest, and townsfolk gawked as they were led through the streets. Used to survey wagon roads and patrol West Texas, the herd passed to Confederate hands at the Civil War's outbreak and was eventually auctioned off.
German Immigration Through Karlshafen
Indianola, TX
In 1842 a group of German noblemen formed the Adelsverein, a society pledged to resettle their countrymen in far-off Texas. Amid the hunger and unrest of 1840s Europe, its slogan "geh mit ins Texas" drew thousands to the shell beach of Indian Point at Karlshafen, the debarkation point that fed the new colonies of New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. Many died in the hard early years, but the survivors left a German imprint on Texas culture that endures.