HomeMy WebLinkAboutCondensed History of the College Station Cemetery 10.27.1966 CITY OF' COLLEGE STATION
College Station, Texas
October 27, 1966
A CONDENSED HISTORY OF THE
COLLEGE STATION CEMETERY
At the close of World War II there was a great deal of discussion by the
residents of College Station about a city cemetery. The mayor, Mr.
Ernest Langford, appointed a planning committee with Herschell Burgess as
chairman to make plans for the location, the financing of the land, and
plans for the maintenance of a city cemetery. �KC�
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Mr. F. W. Hensel, Head of the Landscaping Department of A &M College,
headed a committee for the -location, and a plot of land, one and a half — l'viFS. �� •L- , ,
miles south of the College, on Highway 6, was chosen. The city purchased ��
a tract of 31 acres from Victor Boriski. The tract surrounds a four acre_ MR , \A].
cemetery deeded to the Methodist Church in 1870, by W. J. Rector and t,/"J
Josephine E. Rector, his wife.
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The Methodist Conference then turned the four acre tract over to the
City of College Station. —
At the First Quarterly Conference of the Methodist Church that year,
the following resolutions were adopted.
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1. The area of Hwy. 6 agreed on by the City and trustees of A &M
Methodist Church shall be landscaped as a small entrance park, suitable
for a burial chapel if the erecting of such a chapel becomes expedient.
2. The property shall be landscaped so as to some extent preserve
the identity of the property lines of the area being herewith deeded to the
City of College Station.
3. The near relatives of persons now buried in this cemetery shall be
given first opportunity to purchase lets adjacent to the graves of said relatives.
4. The property herein described shall revert to the A &M Methodist
Church if and when it is no ionger maintained and used exclusively for
cemetery purposes.
5. All mineral rights on the property herein described shall be reserved
by the A &M Methodist Church.
The transfer was made and work of landscaping the grounds, construction
of roads and walks went on at a rapid - pace. To finance the purchase of the
land, and the construction of the necessary improvements, the City of College
History of College Station Cemetery
October 27, 1966; page 2
Station issued $10, 000. 00 in Cemetery - Warrants. They were in denominations
of $100. 00 and carried 4% interest coupons. (These Cemetery - Warrants were
retired in 1952.)
On February 1, 1948, the dedication ceremony of the Cemetery was held,
attended by the mayor and many residents of College Station.
The City started selling lots in 1948. One hundred lots, 800 grave spaces
have been sold up to this time. The Cemetery is integrated- -and has been
since its beginning. There are eleven infants buried in Baby Land. Several
of these are from families of students attending the University.
The people of College Station and vicinity are deeply interested in the develop-
ment of the cemetery. The A &M Garden Club has given many days of work,
and have provided many plants for the beautifying of the grounds. Also,
the Garden Club has declared the cemetery as a wild flower preserve. More
than 200 varieties of wild flowers have been identified. It is truly a place
of beauty during the spring months. The local schools use this preserve
in their nature studies. The Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts help with collecting
the seeds and planting in other areas.
The City Council has been generous in supplying labor through the years. A
centrifugal electric pump has been installed in the small lake on the property.
Also, irrigation pipes have been added, so there is no drought problem.
The council now has a landscape designer adding to the original plans. Many
of the, old plantings must be replaced and new ones added to develop the
cemetery as the citizens of the community want it to be. The difficulty
is our budget will not cover these plans, because a large portion of the
land surrounding College Station is state owned - -and yields no tax money.
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