1965 - The Italian Vault - Calvary Catholic Cemetery - Galveston, TX
Posted by: 
jhuoni
N 29° 16.358 W 094° 49.823
15R E 322174 N 3239580
The Italian Vault, located in Calvary Catholic Cemetery, was built in 1888 by the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society. It can be seen from 61st street, but the only access to this cemetery is on 65th street.
Waymark Code: WM11VV7
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/24/2019
Views: 1
Photo 1: Texas Historical Commission [Historic Property, Photograph THC_14-1245], photograph, Date Unknown; :, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Texas Historical Commission.
Photo 2: Texas Historical Commission [Historic Property, Photograph THC_14-11244], photograph, Date Unknown; :, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, crediting Texas Historical Commission.
From Mythic Galveston: Reinventing America's Third Coast By Susan Wiley Hardwick (pp 107-108)
The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD. 2002
"The building known as the Italian Vault provides evidence of the ongoing importance of Italians in the cultural landscape of Galveston. In 1992 the San Giovanni Italian-American Association of Galveston dedicated the Italian Vault in a service held at Calvary Cemetery on Sixty-fifth Street. This beautiful funeral building was constructed in 1888 by a group of the earliest Italians settling in Galveston. The original effort to construct the vault, to provide a final resting place for Galveston's less fortunate Italian residents, was led by the city's Italian consul, Clemente Nicoloni, who came to Galveston from Italy in 1884."
A Texas Historical Marker here states:
The Italian Vault
Attracted by economic opportunities to be found here, a large number of Italian immigrants came to Galveston in the 19th century. In 1876, they formed the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society (Societa'Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso) to provide assistance to fellow immigrants. The society purchased a plot of land in Calvary Catholic Cemetery in 1888 and built this mausoleum, known as the Italian Vault. The structure exhibits Gothic style influences in its buttresses, gargoyles, and Corinthian columns flanking the entrance.
The vault provides space for twelve crypts. It served as a permanent or temporary resting place for more than 70 deceased members until burial could take place in the cemetery. A number of Italian immigrants are interred in plots surrounding the mausoleum. Buried in this cemetery are Captain Clemente Nicolini, a member of the original vault building committee and a former Italian consulate who aided many immigrants; and Gioacchino Cassara, the first president of the Italian Benevolent Society. The vault also was used by members of the later organized Italian society, Stella d'Italia, and finally the Sons of Italy.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1992