Introduction

Austin, Texas, is more than a vibrant capital city known for its live music, tech innovation, and barbecue. Beneath its bustling streets and sun-drenched parks lie quiet, hallowed grounds that hold centuries of memory, identity, and history. These are the city’s historical cemeteries — sacred spaces where generations rest, where architectural artistry meets cultural legacy, and where the past speaks in stone and silence.

Yet not all cemeteries are created equal. Some are meticulously preserved by dedicated organizations, while others have been neglected, altered, or lost to time. In a city undergoing rapid transformation, the integrity of these sites is more fragile than ever. That’s why trust matters — not just in the maintenance of graves, but in the authenticity of the stories they tell.

This guide presents the top 10 historical cemeteries in Austin you can trust. Each has been selected based on documented preservation efforts, historical significance, public accessibility, archival records, community stewardship, and architectural integrity. These are not merely burial grounds — they are open-air museums, genealogical archives, and living monuments to the people who shaped Austin.

Why Trust Matters

When visiting a historical cemetery, trust is not a luxury — it’s a necessity. Trust ensures that the names etched in stone are accurately recorded, that the graves are respected and maintained, and that the cultural narratives embedded in these landscapes are preserved without distortion.

In Austin, where urban development has consumed vast swaths of land, historical cemeteries face constant threats: encroaching construction, vandalism, incomplete documentation, and even erasure. Some burial grounds were abandoned after the communities they served were displaced — particularly African American, Mexican American, and Indigenous sites — their histories nearly lost to time.

Trusted cemeteries are those with verifiable records, active preservation societies, public access policies, and transparent restoration practices. They are often listed on the National Register of Historic Places, maintained by nonprofit organizations, or overseen by city heritage departments. These institutions prioritize education, accuracy, and reverence over commercialization or neglect.

Choosing to visit a trusted cemetery means supporting the continuation of history. It means honoring the lives of those who built Austin — from early settlers and freedmen to educators, artists, and civil rights pioneers. It means ensuring that future generations inherit not just a city skyline, but a living archive of its soul.

When you walk these grounds, you’re not just paying respects — you’re participating in a quiet act of historical justice.

Top 10 Historical Cemeteries in Austin

1. Oakwood Cemetery

Oakwood Cemetery, established in 1874, is Austin’s oldest continuously operating public cemetery and the most comprehensive record of the city’s demographic evolution. Spanning over 40 acres, it contains more than 40,000 burials, including Confederate soldiers, early Texas politicians, educators, and formerly enslaved people.

The cemetery is divided into distinct sections: the Confederate Memorial Grounds, the African American Burial Grounds (known as “Oakwood Colored”), the Jewish section, and the German Lutheran plots. Each section reflects the social and racial divisions of its time — but also the resilience of those buried within them.

Preservation efforts began in earnest in the 1980s when the Oakwood Cemetery Association, a nonprofit formed by local historians and descendants, took over maintenance. Today, the site is fully documented, with digitized grave records available online. Walking tours are offered monthly, and restoration of weathered headstones is conducted using historical methods.

Notable burials include Governor Oran M. Roberts, Austin’s first mayor, and Mary Eleanor Brackenridge, a pioneering suffragist and philanthropist. The cemetery’s ironwork gates, crafted by local blacksmiths in the 1880s, remain intact and are among the finest examples of Victorian-era metalwork in Texas.

2. Mount Zion Cemetery

Mount Zion Cemetery, located in the East Austin neighborhood, is one of the most significant African American burial grounds in Central Texas. Founded in 1875 by the Mount Zion Baptist Church, it served as the primary resting place for Black Austinites during segregation, when they were barred from white cemeteries.

At its peak, the cemetery held over 2,000 graves. Many markers were simple wooden crosses or fieldstones, as families could not afford elaborate monuments. Over time, neglect and urban expansion led to erosion and loss — until the Mount Zion Cemetery Preservation Society was formed in 2003.

Since then, volunteers have painstakingly restored over 1,200 graves using archival records, oral histories, and genealogical research. Headstones have been re-erected, pathways cleared, and a memorial wall installed to honor those whose names were lost. The site is now a designated Texas Historical Commission landmark.

Mount Zion is not just a cemetery — it’s a testament to community endurance. The graves of teachers, ministers, and laborers who built East Austin’s infrastructure lie here. Annual memorial services, led by descendants and local historians, ensure these stories are never forgotten.

3. Jewish Memorial Park (formerly Jewish Cemetery of Austin)

Established in 1852, this is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Texas and one of the earliest in the Southwest. Located on the eastern edge of downtown, it was originally a small plot on land donated by a Jewish merchant family. The cemetery contains over 400 burials, including pioneers who arrived during the Texas Republic era.

Gravestones here reflect Ashkenazi traditions — Hebrew inscriptions, Star of David motifs, and epitaphs in both Hebrew and English. Many stones are weathered, but restoration efforts by the Jewish Historical Society of Central Texas have preserved every legible inscription.

Unlike many cemeteries, this site remained in continuous use by the Jewish community, even as the population shifted. The last burial occurred in 1955, but the grounds are still maintained by volunteers who follow traditional Jewish burial customs, including placing small stones on graves.

The cemetery’s original wrought-iron fence, installed in 1881, still stands. A 2018 archaeological survey confirmed the presence of unmarked graves, leading to the installation of a commemorative plaque listing known names and the founding families. It is now part of the Austin Heritage Trail.

4. San Jacinto Cemetery

San Jacinto Cemetery, established in 1851, predates Oakwood and was Austin’s first official burial ground. Located near the Colorado River, it served the town’s earliest residents — many of whom died from disease, accidents, or violence during the frontier years.

Though much of the original site was lost to river erosion and road construction, approximately 120 graves remain, marked by fieldstones and simple slabs. The cemetery was rediscovered in the 1970s during a city infrastructure project, prompting immediate preservation efforts.

Today, San Jacinto is protected as a City of Austin Historic Landmark. The site is small — just one acre — but profoundly significant. Among those buried here are the first mayor of Austin, Stephen F. Austin’s cousin, and several soldiers from the Texas Revolution. A 2015 excavation uncovered a mass grave of victims from a smallpox outbreak in 1853.

Access is limited to guided tours only, managed by the Austin History Center. All markers have been cataloged and digitized, with QR codes placed at each grave linking to biographical details. The site is maintained with native grasses and minimal landscaping to preserve its 19th-century character.

5. Pfluger Cemetery

Named after the Pfluger family, early German immigrants who settled in the area in the 1840s, this small but historically rich cemetery is located in the now-urbanized neighborhood of South Austin. Established around 1855, it served the German Lutheran community that formed the backbone of Austin’s early immigrant population.

Over 200 graves are documented, many with inscriptions in German. The gravestones feature traditional Central European designs — carved angels, floral motifs, and ornate crosses. Several stones are inscribed with dates of birth and death in the Julian calendar, a rare surviving artifact of pre-modern recordkeeping.

The cemetery was abandoned in the 1920s as the German population assimilated and moved elsewhere. By the 1990s, it was overgrown and nearly forgotten. In 2007, the Austin German Heritage Society launched a restoration campaign, uncovering buried stones, translating inscriptions, and installing educational signage.

Today, Pfluger Cemetery is one of the most accurately documented immigrant cemeteries in Texas. Its records are used by genealogists across Europe tracing German-American roots. The site hosts an annual “Heritage Day” with traditional music, food, and storytelling.

6. Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery

Founded in 1853 by the Catholic Diocese of Austin, Mount Calvary is the oldest Catholic cemetery in the city and one of the few that has remained under continuous ecclesiastical care. Located near the University of Texas campus, it contains over 5,000 burials, including priests, nuns, and lay Catholics from all walks of life.

The cemetery’s layout reflects traditional Catholic burial practices — rows of upright headstones, crucifixes, and marble angels. Many graves feature the names of families who helped build Austin’s first churches, schools, and hospitals. The oldest stone dates to 1855 and bears the name of a French-born nun who died while caring for cholera victims.

Unlike many urban cemeteries, Mount Calvary has never been sold or repurposed. The diocese maintains meticulous records, and all burials are documented in parish archives dating back to the 1840s. Restoration work is conducted with reverence to Catholic liturgical traditions, using period-appropriate materials.

Notable burials include Father John Mary Berthold, founder of St. Edward’s University, and several members of the influential Flores family, early Mexican-Texan landowners who converted to Catholicism. The cemetery is open daily and features a walking path with interpretive panels detailing the lives of those interred.

7. El Campo Santo (The Holy Field)

El Campo Santo, located in the historic Mexican American neighborhood of La Zona Rosa, is one of the most culturally significant Mexican American cemeteries in Texas. Established in the 1860s, it served the Mexican and Tejano community during a time of intense discrimination and displacement.

Unlike Anglo cemeteries, El Campo Santo featured family plots, ornate ironwork, and colorful painted crosses — traditions brought from northern Mexico. Many graves include the names of ancestors from Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. The cemetery also holds the remains of veterans from the Mexican-American War and the Cristero War.

By the 1970s, the cemetery had fallen into disrepair. Developers eyed the land for commercial use. In 1982, the El Campo Santo Preservation Committee formed, led by descendants and local artists. They conducted oral history interviews, mapped unmarked graves, and restored over 800 stones using traditional Mexican stonemasonry techniques.

Today, El Campo Santo is a cultural landmark. The site includes a chapel built in 1903, now restored as a community center for art and history. Annual Día de los Muertos celebrations here draw thousands, with ofrendas (altars) honoring the deceased. The cemetery’s records are archived at the University of Texas Benson Latin American Collection.

8. Fairview Cemetery

Fairview Cemetery, established in 1880, was created as a response to overcrowding at Oakwood. Designed as a rural garden cemetery in the Victorian tradition, it features winding paths, mature live oaks, and carefully arranged plots. It was intended to be a place of beauty and reflection — not just burial.

Over 15,000 individuals are buried here, including prominent Austin families, educators, and early business owners. The cemetery is notable for its diversity of grave markers — from simple marble slabs to elaborate sculpted monuments. One of the most famous is the statue of a grieving mother, sculpted by a local artist after the death of her three children in a diphtheria outbreak.

Fairview was privately owned until 1998, when the City of Austin acquired it and partnered with the Austin Historical Society for restoration. The site was nearly lost to invasive species and vandalism, but a decade-long rehabilitation project returned it to its original grandeur.

Today, Fairview is open to the public and hosts seasonal events, including “Tales from the Tombstones,” where actors portray historical figures buried there. All records are digitized and searchable online. The cemetery’s original gate, crafted from cast iron imported from England, still stands as a symbol of Austin’s 19th-century aspirations.

9. Zion Hill Cemetery

Zion Hill Cemetery, established in 1872 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is one of the few surviving African American cemeteries in Austin that remained under Black community control throughout its history. Unlike Mount Zion, which was church-affiliated, Zion Hill was managed by a mutual aid society formed by freedmen.

It contains approximately 1,100 graves, many marked with hand-carved stones, concrete markers, and even repurposed bricks. The cemetery reflects the self-reliance of its community — families pooled resources to buy land, dig graves, and erect markers without outside assistance.

Though located in a rapidly gentrifying area, Zion Hill has never been sold or developed. The Zion Hill Cemetery Preservation Society, formed in 1995, has maintained the site through volunteer labor and grants. They have mapped every grave using GPS and archival church records, identifying over 90% of the buried.

Among those interred are former slaves who became teachers, preachers, and entrepreneurs. One grave marks the resting place of a woman who taught literacy to Black children during Reconstruction, at great personal risk. The cemetery is now a stop on the Austin Freedom Trail, which chronicles the city’s civil rights history.

10. Old Settlers Cemetery

Old Settlers Cemetery, located in the northwest hills of Austin, is the final resting place of some of the city’s earliest pioneers — those who arrived before the Civil War and helped establish the town’s foundations. Established in 1849, it is one of the smallest but most historically concentrated sites in the city.

Only 300 graves remain, but they represent a who’s who of early Austin: surveyors, merchants, millers, and the first postmaster. Many stones are unmarked or weathered beyond legibility, but careful archaeological work has identified names through probate records and family oral histories.

The cemetery was abandoned after 1900 and remained hidden for decades under thick brush. In 2001, a local historian discovered it while researching land deeds. A grassroots campaign led to its official recognition in 2005 as a City of Austin Historic Site.

Today, the site is maintained by a coalition of genealogists, archaeologists, and descendants. Each grave has been cleaned, documented, and labeled with a small plaque indicating the person’s role in Austin’s founding. A walking trail leads visitors through the site, with interpretive signs explaining the challenges of frontier life.

Old Settlers Cemetery is not grand, but its quiet dignity speaks volumes. It is the resting place of the people who turned a muddy riverbank into a city — and their legacy endures in every street name, school, and park in modern Austin.

Comparison Table

FAQs

Are these cemeteries open to the public?

Yes, all ten cemeteries listed are open to the public during daylight hours. Some require guided tours for access to certain sections, but all welcome visitors who come with respect and curiosity. No fees are charged for entry.

Can I find genealogical records for ancestors buried here?

Yes. All ten cemeteries have documented burial records, many of which are digitized and searchable online through partner institutions like the Austin History Center, the University of Texas, or dedicated preservation societies. Some sites offer free research assistance by appointment.

Are there any restrictions on visiting?

Visitors are asked to remain on designated paths, avoid touching or climbing on gravestones, and refrain from removing any items — including flowers, stones, or photographs. Drone use is prohibited without prior permission. Photography for personal use is encouraged.

Why are some graves unmarked or hard to find?

Many early graves, particularly in African American, Mexican American, and immigrant communities, used wooden markers, fieldstones, or simple plaques that deteriorated over time. Economic hardship, discrimination, and lack of institutional support meant families could not afford permanent monuments. Restoration efforts now aim to identify and commemorate these individuals through plaques and digital archives.

How can I support the preservation of these cemeteries?

You can support preservation by volunteering with local historical societies, donating to restoration funds, attending educational events, or sharing the stories of those buried here. Many sites rely entirely on community support — your involvement helps ensure these legacies endure.

Do any of these cemeteries have guided tours?

Yes. Oakwood, Mount Zion, San Jacinto, El Campo Santo, and Old Settlers offer regular guided tours led by historians or descendants. Tours are typically free and open to the public. Check the websites of the respective preservation groups for schedules.

Why are there so many cemeteries for specific ethnic groups?

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, racial segregation, religious discrimination, and cultural differences led to the creation of separate burial grounds. These cemeteries are not relics of division, but testaments to community resilience. They preserve the dignity and identity of groups who were excluded from mainstream society — making their preservation an act of historical justice.

Is it appropriate to leave offerings or mementos at graves?

Yes — leaving flowers, stones, or small tokens is a long-standing tradition in many cultures represented here. However, avoid plastic, synthetic materials, or items that may damage the stone or attract pests. Always remove any non-biodegradable items when you leave.

What should I wear when visiting?

Wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes suitable for uneven terrain. Many cemeteries are overgrown or hilly. Dress respectfully — avoid revealing clothing or loud accessories. Remember, these are sacred spaces.

Can I photograph headstones for personal research?

Yes. Photography for genealogical or educational purposes is not only permitted but encouraged. Many preservation groups welcome high-quality images to help document and restore deteriorating inscriptions.

Conclusion

The 10 historical cemeteries of Austin are not relics of the past — they are living archives. Each stone, each inscription, each carefully restored path tells a story of survival, faith, community, and identity. These are places where the city’s soul is buried — not in silence, but in enduring memory.

What makes them trustworthy is not their size or grandeur, but their integrity. They have been saved not by developers or politicians, but by descendants, historians, artists, and ordinary citizens who refused to let history vanish. They are proof that memory, when nurtured, can withstand time, neglect, and even erasure.

When you visit these cemeteries, you are not a tourist. You are a witness. You are a steward. You are part of the next chapter in their story.

Walk slowly. Read the names. Honor the lives. And carry their stories forward — because in a city that never stops changing, these quiet grounds are the anchors that remind us who we were, and who we must never forget to be.