In 1854, the Texas legislature designated Senator Andrew Jackson Hamilton’s property as a state cemetery. Civil War casualties were buried there and adjacent land was reserved for veterans and widows following the war’s cessation. The cemetery languished until the early 20th century, when concerted efforts were made to landscape the grounds and adorn it with monuments. In the 1910s, a caretaker’s cottage was built, interior roads were paved, and a drainage system installed. Between 1929 and 1936, the graves of 70 notable Texans were relocated there, and in 1953, guidelines qualifying interments were set, solidifying the Texas State Cemetery as the final resting place of state officials and public figures.
Situated one mile east of the Capitol, the cemetery comprises 21 acres of gently rolling terrain planted with oaks and pecan trees. The property is bisected by Albert Sidney Johnston Avenue and a secondary, perpendicular drive which leads to an entrance on Comal Street. The vacant northern portion features winding paths dotted with the occasional shade tree, while the southern half has a much denser tree canopy. The southeastern quadrant consists of the Confederate Plat, marked by evenly-spaced rows of simple marble headstones; the southwestern quadrant includes the monumental memorials of state officials. A limestone visitors’ center, replicating the Alamo’s long barracks, was built in 1997 adjacent to a picturesque pond edged with naturalistic limestone slabs. Diminished by neglect until a renovation project in 1994, the cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
