Cementerio del Rio
Historical marker location:LOCATED ON THE SAN MARCOS RIVER, ONE HALF MILE DOWNRIVER FROM THE OLD CAMINO REAL CROSSING, CEMENTERIO DEL RIO IS SITUATED CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL SPANISH SETTLEMENT OF SAN MARCOS DE NEVE (1804-1812). IT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED WITH A JANUARY 7, 1893 DEED FROM H. T. KING AND E. D. STIGER TO HAYS COUNTY FOR A ONE-ACRE PLOT OF LAND FOR THE PURPOSES OF A CHURCH, SCHOOL, AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN BURIALS.
THE EARLIEST SURVIVING INSCRIPTION NOTES A 1906 DEATH (CALIXTO DUMAS, 1865 – AUGUST 31, 1906), WHILE THE LATEST DOCUMENTED INSCRIPTION IS FROM 1941 (MARIA JESUS RODRIGUEZ, NOVEMBER 25, 1859 – SEPTEMBER 6, 1941). VERY FEW INSCRIPTIONS EXIST AFTER 1920, BUT A MAJORITY OF THE SURVIVING STONES, WHICH ARE MAINLY FROM 1910-1920, REFLECT THE INFLUX OF MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS AROUND THE TIME OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION, THEREBY EXHIBITING THE GROWTH OF A UNIQUE CULTURE IN SAN MARCOS. THE CEMETERY’S MOST PROMINENT TOMBSTONES BELONG TO FOUR WOODMEN OF THE WORLD, BEING EMILIO GARCIA (1883-1913), EVARISTO R. MORIN (1885-1913), JOSE HERNANDEZ (1877-1919), AND OCTAVIANO FELAN (1884-1915).
THE 1909 ESTABLISHMENT OF SAN PEDRO CEMETERY A FEW MILES AWAY SEEMS TO HAVE EVENTUALLY ECLIPSED CEMENTERIO DEL RIO WHILE DROUGHT HAS KILLED AND STRESSED MANY OF THE CEMETERY’S TREES. ALTHOUGH THE SITE WAS ABANDONED AND VIRTUALLY FORGOTTEN UNTIL THE EARLY 1990s, CEMENTERIO DEL RIO SERVES AS EVIDENCE OF AN IMPORTANT TIME IN HAYS COUNTY’S HISTORY AS WELL AS AN INDICATION OF THE PRESENCE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY IN SAN MARCOS.