Campo Santo Viejo

Planned as all of block 144 of the original townsite in 1848 and active by 1852, Campo Santo Viejo was the first official cemetery in Brownsville. The city abandoned the site in 1864, but burials continued into the 1870s. The property was redeveloped for residential and commercial uses, and in time, Campo Santo Viejo faded from memory, with no visible headstones or graves. Cameron County acquired portions of the site, and in 2004, human remains were discovered. Archeologists documented organized rows of interments in formal 19th century fashion, with dozens of undisturbed graves and evidence of moved burials. Now dedicated as a memorial park, this State Archeological Landmark remains a significant chronicle of Brownsville’s beginnings.