Old City Cemetery - Galveston, TX
Posted by: 
jhuoni
N 29° 17.632 W 094° 48.708
15R E 324016 N 3241906
Founded in 1839, Old City Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Broadway Cemetery Historic District in 2014.
Waymark Code: WMYWF6
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/02/2018
Views: 2
There are SEVEN cemeteries in this large rectangle bound by Broadway (Avenue J) on the north, Avenue L on the south, 40th Street on the east, and 43rd Street on the west. Avenue K runs through the middle.
North of Avenue K, from west to east: Evergreen (Cahill), Oleander, and Old City.
South of Avenue K, from west to east: Hebrew Benevolent Society, New City (Yellow Fever Yard), Old Catholic, and Trinity Episcopal.
"The Old City Cemetery (1839) has paved walkways and concrete curbs. Monuments range from simple stone (granite and marble) to tall obelisks and seven large above ground vaults. Approximately 1,500 souls are interred in it." (
visit link)
From the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form:
Old City Cemetery (1839)
Old City Cemetery is located at the northeast corner of the Broadway Cemetery Historic District and together with the adjacent Potter’s Field represents the original two municipal burial grounds for the city of Galveston. The current configuration of the cemetery closely resembles the historic appearance and dimensions of the original cemetery.
An undated map from the City of Galveston Planning Department archives illustrates the earliest available record of the layout of the cemetery. The map indicates the cemetery is 269’ - 0” north to south and 380’ - 6” from east to west. The current cemetery measures roughly 288’- 0” north to south and 383’- 6” east to west. This reflects an expansion along the southern boundary ca. 1926 of 17’- 0” and along the northern boundary in 1933 of 7’- 11,” adding additional burial sites for all cemeteries within the complex. Currently, approximately 1,500 interments are located within the Old City Cemetery, with almost 90-percent of the burial sites dated within the period of significance from 1839 until 1964. The undated map notes that the extant concrete walks were named 1st through 9th Avenues and the resultant lots were subdivided into Range Nos. 1-9. North, South, East, and West Ranges are located along the cemetery boundaries. Gates are shown at the north boundary just northeast of 2nd Avenue, and at the end of 4th and 8th Avenues. Also noted are areas designated for the German Lutheran Church (West Range, Plot 16), Independent Order of Odd Fellows or IOOF (Range No. 8, Plot 20), and the Protestant Orphans Home Burial Ground (North Range, Plot 5). Along the south range, near the corner of Avenue K and 40th Street, is an 18’- 0” x 26’- 0” plot labeled “Office” with a 9’- 0” veranda illustrated by a dotted line north of the office. This area corresponds to the current location and configuration of the Sexton Office, with the exception of an eastern ell located atop an area noted in this map as containing gravesites (Plot 12). A 1933 map shows the current footprint of the Sexton’s Office with a diagonal walkway and fence posts from the southeast corner of the site to the office This diagonal walkway is no longer extant – the entire area is covered by a concrete drive at this location.
The Old City Cemetery features concrete walks with concrete curbs defining each plot. The monuments within the cemetery range from simple granite and marble headstones to larger vaults and obelisks. While most graves are covered with a grass lawn, some are encased in concrete. A few graves also feature a white, hexagon ceramic tile in addition to the concrete slab “grave cover” atop the gravesite. There are a total of seven above ground vaults in this cemetery; four are massive concrete structures, similar to others in the Episcopal and Oleander Cemeteries and three are tall Classical Revival-style vaults that are also featured in the Episcopal Cemetery.