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 Smithson Valley Cemetery
N 29° 48.325 W 098° 20.096
14R E 564269 N 3297409
The historic Texas Cemetery historical marker for the Smithson Valley Cemetery and rapidly urbanizing Comal County
Waymark Code: WM17VDA
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/07/2023
Views: 2
Smithson Valley Cemetery was founded by German settlers in 1876, who lost their young son, Karl.
The cemetery is located on FM 311 between Texas State Highway 46 and FM 3159.
Marker Number: 17571
Marker Text:
Located off State Highway 46 on Farm to Market Road 311 in the Texas Hill Country, the Smithson Valley Cemetery is the final resting place for German immigrants who settled the Smithson Valley Community area. At one time, the community had a store, Post Office, blacksmith shop, one-room schoolhouse, dancehall, bowling alley and saloon. Many descendants of Johann Startz, one of the first 240 founders of New Braunfels and citizen of the Republic of Texas, are buried here. In 1876 the cemetery began as a family ranch cemetery for the burial of baby Karl Ohlrich, Jr., the young son of Heinrich Pantermuehl’s sister, Louise Pantermuehl Ohlrich. Heinrich Pantermuehl (1842-1921), husband to Johann Startz’s granddaughter, Pauline (1856-1933), formally deeded this land for a cemetery in 1898.
The landscape of the Smithson Valley Cemetery is representative of other German family cemeteries found throughout Central Texas. Graves face east to west arranged in uniform rows with curbing, perpetuating a custom widely used in Germany. Granite, marble and limestone gravestones are present, along with several unmarked graves thought to belong to children. Many inscriptions are in German. The grave of a young soldier, Herbert Startz (1893-1918), is decorated with a blanket of shells believed to be the signature of German cement finisher Henry Theodore Mordhorst. The Smithson Valley Cemetery Association, organized in 1970, maintains this historic cemetery, a reminder of German immigration and settlement in the Hill Country.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2008
Marker is property of the State of Texas
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