Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Texas and Pacific Railroad founded Texarkana on December 8, 1873. Anthony Ghio and Col. R.W. Rodgers purchased town lots on the first day of sale. They and several other residents formed Sacred Heart Catholic Church under the leadership of Father Theodore Buffard, a priest from Galveston who served much of the region's Catholic population. The next year, the congregation celebrated Christmas Eve mass in their first sanctuary. Two years later, Col. Rodgers donated land for this church cemetery; his young daughter, Agnes Bernard Rodgers, had been buried here the previous year. Over the years, the congregation grew and also sponsored a sister church in the city. Sacred Heart Catholic Church established a school, and later developed a second burial ground and new church facilities. Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery features ironwork by the local LeGrand family, as well as sculpture by Raffl Studios of Paris, France. Immigrants from sixteen countries are buried here; inscriptions on the monuments, which vary greatly in style, indicate the diverse history of the congregation. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Texas and Pacific Railroad founded Texarkana in December 1873, buyers like Anthony Ghio and Col. R.W. Rodgers snapped up lots on the first day of sale and soon organized Sacred Heart Catholic Church under a Galveston priest. Rodgers donated this cemetery land in 1876, a year after his young daughter Agnes was buried here. Its monuments—ironwork by the local LeGrand family, sculpture from a Paris studio, and inscriptions naming immigrants from sixteen countries—reflect a strikingly diverse railroad-town congregation.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a stone record of how the railroad drew Catholic immigrants from around the world into a brand-new Southern town almost overnight.
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Related people
- · Anthony Ghio
- · R.W. Rodgers
- · Theodore Buffard
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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