St. Mary's Cemetery - Westphalia, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 31° 07.384 W 097° 07.014
14R E 679556 N 3444766
Occupying a slightly sloping hill within the original lOO-acre church tract, St. Mary's cemetery also reveals the community's German heritage. The swept cemetery incorporates gravel paths between family plots surrounded by low concrete curbs.
Waymark Code: WMYBRG
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/26/2018
Views: 1
Texas Historic Site Atlas
Most graves are kept neatly graveled and free of weeds, although grass covers a few. Headstones all face the church on the east. Most older monuments feature inscriptions in German topped by the Maltese cross, a typical German symbol. The resultant image of row upon row of regimented grave stones topped with crosses creates visual continuity with the Maltese crosses surmounting the church.
A bronze statue depicting Jesus Christ on the cross commands the center of the cemetery. Several pioneer families donated the larger-than-life cmcifix, imported from France in 1908. A single file of seven rectangular concrete slabs leading from the entrance of the cemetery to the cmcifix marks the graves of Westphalia's parish priests.
Expansion removed much of the original wrought iron fencing, although some survives on the north side. A wrought iron entry arch dating to about 1950 marks the ceremonial entry to the grounds. Chain link fencing at the rear of the property coincides with the westem boundary of the church tract.