Old City Cemetery

There are interpretive signs posted at some of the graves that give details on the local notables buried in the Old City Cemetery. There are many above-ground crypts as seen in the cemeteries of New Orleans as well as traditional headstones from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Family burial plots are outlined with low concrete or brick curbs or cast iron fencing. Inscriptions are found in Spanish, English, French, and German, reflecting the cultural melting pot of south Texas history. There are separate sections in the cemetery for the local Masonic Lodge and for Catholics (see the image of the 1976b plat).

Although the Old City Cemetery is not a military cemetery, there are interments of those who fought on both sides of the Civil War, although there are understandably more from the Southern than the Northern side. Joseph J. Cocke was a Corporal in the First Virginia Artillery Regiment and Victor Egly was an Assistant Engineer on the Confederate Naval ship "Neptune." Welcome Alonzo Crafts served as a Captain in the First New Hampshire Infantry and George M. Dennett was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 9th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops.

The Old City Cemetery is a popular place for ghost hunters. It has been said that a photograph was taken of a spectral girl in a blue dress behind a gravestone. The grave of a four-year-old girl named Daisy Starck attracts the most attention. She was the town's first traffic fatality, trampled to death by a horse and wagon in 1879. She is buried next to the grave of her young cousin, Freddy. Nighttime security guards claim to have seen two children playing with a ball who then disappear. Visitors bring toys to the grave of Daisy so she and Freddy don't get bored.

The Brownsville Historical Association (BHA) has created the Old City Cemetery Center, an exhibit on the cemetery's history, in the former baggage room of the old Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. The entrance to the exhibit is one block southeast of the cemetery gate, at 1004 E. Sixth street, but is open by appointment only or during special events or tours. The E. Madison Street side of the former depot houses the Historic Brownsville Museum (another Clio entry).The BHA offers help with genealogical research or more information on the cemetery by contacting them through the Historic Brownsville Museum.

Brownsville Historical Association. Old City Cemetery and Old City Cemetery Center, Museums and Centers. January 1st 2019. Accessed September 22nd 2020. https://www.brownsvillehistory.org/old-city-cemetery-center.html.

Fernandez, Eugene. NRHP Nomination for Brownsville City Cemetery and Hebrew Cemetery. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2007.

Jimenez, Francisco E.. "Brownsville's old city cemetery a hotbed for paranormal activity." The Monitor (McAllen, TX) October 31st 2019. , Local News sec.

Texas Historical Commission. Brownsville: Old City Cemetery Center, Texas Tropical Trail. June 1st 2020. Accessed September 25th 2020. https://texastropicaltrail.com/plan-your-adventure/historic-sites-and-cities/sites/old-city-cemetery-center.

U. of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Old City Cemetery, Civil War Trail. Accessed September 23rd 2020. https://www.utrgv.edu/civilwar-trail/civil-war-trail/cameron-county/old-city-cemetery/index.htm.