Ranger Cemetery
N 28° 37.321 W 096° 37.515
14R E 732173 N 3168415
Ranger Cemetery, a deeply interesting historical cemetery in downtown Port Lavaca is not one but two historical markers
Waymark Code: WM161DC
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/12/2022
Views: 2
Ranger Cemetery is located on the northeast side of Harbor Street between Highway 238 and Fulton Street in downtown Port Lavaca. It contains a mass grave of Union soldiers, something that you don't see a lot of in Texas.
There are two historical markers here: plate marker installed in 2009, and a historic Texas Cemetery medallion installed more recently.
Marker Number: 4197 (plate) & 15820 (HTC medallion)
Marker Text:
The oldest known grave here is that of Major H. Oram Watts, The Customs Collector at Linnville and casualty of a Comanche raid on that nearby settlement, Aug. 8, 1840. The site was called Ranger cemetery after the burial in 1850 of Margaret Peyton Lytle, wife of James T. Lytle (D. 1854), the "Poet" of the Texas Rangers. When an epidemic broke out during the Civil War (1861-65), a nearby house was used as a hospital. At least 10 Federal soldiers were among victims buried here. Members of the five families who owned the site are also interred in Ranger cemetery. Last burial was in 1941.
(1975)
Incise on base:
Erected by Calhoun County
Historical Commission
Beneath the marker plate, a Historic Texas cemetery medallion has been affixed to the marker post:
[HTC medallion only]
|
Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.