City Cemetery Tales & ToursThe first local Cemetery Walk took place October 27, 2012, and featured the stories of more than a dozen veterans buried in the cemetery.
After the success of the inaugural event, a committee including members of the Heritage Association and the Friends of the City Cemetery organized a second walk for November 2, 2013. This event focused on the early settlers of San Marcos. In 2014, the walk was officially renamed "City Cemetery Tales and Tours." The event has traditionally been held on the third or fourth Saturday in October. A 2024 event was planned but has been cancelled. We hope to bring this event back in future years! 
Individuals Honored at Tales & Tours2012: If the Dead Could Talk . . .
Thomas P. Yoakum Emmie Craddock, Ph.D. Joe Valdez Vasquez, Jr. Vicente Ramirez Gonzalez Joseph “Jake” Claberon Sullivan Colin Derek Bishop, Charles McElroy, Michael Anthony Gray Wood (British Royal Air Force) Arthur Edward Gary Maurice T. Suttles Jack Arnold Ann Pearce Munson Caldwell (wife of Henry William Munson and Major James P. Caldwell) Dr. Peter Cavanaugh Woods Louise Lawshe 2013: Echoes from Our Past: Early Settlers of San Marcos D.P. Hopkins Walker Wilson W.O. and Leonora Hutchison David Dailey Charles S. Cock William Lindsay Joseph W. Earnest Augusta Hofheinz Eliza Pope Pitts Malone and James Lafayette Malone William Pitts Thomas McGehee Peyton Roberts 2014: City Cemetery Tales and Tours Corrie Smith Marcus Jackson Monroe, Esther and Willie Higgs Fred Feltner Herschel Walling Walter “Pete” Owen J. Garland Flowers Alvin and Bernice Musgrave Jack and Frances Stovall Jerry L. Moore Howard Tidwell 2015: City Cemetery Tales and Tours Ernest Cummings Owen Goodnight C.C. “Tex” Hughson Judge Terry Jacks Thornton Joseph “T.J.” and Phyllis Guyette Mostyn Edra Pennington Allbright Dr. Gwen Smith Tula Townsend Wyatt 2016: Tour Canceled 2017: Tales and Tours Dr. Ira Bowles Charles Callihan Ed Lyon Wren Giesen Paul Guerrero Eliza Jewell Dr. Daniel B. Rojo Nettie Serur Dr. James Taylor Virginia Witte |
About the City Cemetery The San Marcos City Cemetery, founded in 1876, is the burial ground for many Texas pioneers. Veterans buried here represent all wars dating back as far as the War of 1812. This is not the site of the city’s first cemetery, however. The original San Marcos Cemetery was located on Hutchison Street, where the former San Marcos Library building still stands at 310 W. Hutchison. The first burial in that location was in 1846, when the first Anglos began to settle near the San Marcos Springs.
Within the next two years, the Texas Legislature organized Hays County and designated San Marcos as the county seat. By 1851, more settlers had arrived in the area, prompting landowners William Lindsey, Edward Burleson and Eli Merriman to make the layout of San Marcos official. It wasn’t long before the town outgrew the small cemetery and made plans to relocate. The San Marcos Cemetery Association purchased 10 acres on what was then known as the Blanco Road (now Ranch Road 12) and established the cemetery on that site in 1876. Many families transferred the bodies of their loved ones to the new cemetery, which explains why some inscriptions here predate 1876. The first recorded burial at the present site was Major C. Rogers in May 1876, although several early San Marcos settlers were buried in the northwestern part of the cemetery where they lie in unmarked graves. The outdoor chapel was built in 1886. The San Marcos Cemetery Association sold the cemetery and chapel to the city of San Marcos in 1924. Three additions to the property have been made over the years. This beautiful cemetery represents the final resting place for local residents of all races, religions and ethnicities. They include heroes and scoundrels; statesmen and college presidents; infants and centurions. Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and even a few atheists lie scattered over these hallowed grounds. 
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