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Photo by Glenn Johnson

OAKLAND CEMETERY. WHERE DALLAS’ HISTORY LIVES.

Historic Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Dallas’ most noted citizens and veterans including civil war veterans. Three miles from downtown, its 47 acres hold hidden treasures – history and gardens, sculpture and architecture, ancient oaks, magnolias and crepe myrtles. These treasures should be accessible and welcoming to all. With investment, stewardship and leadership, Oakland Cemetery can become a revered final resting place and vibrant park to chronicle Dallas’ past and celebrate its future.

Tragedy and lost history.

Along with loved ones, gardens, history, art, and architecture lie hidden in Dallas’ historic Oakland Cemetery. Today some graves are overgrown, names are faded by weather and time, and important historical context is being lost. Oakland Cemetery is home to names we know, Belo, Bookhout, Minyard, Kiest, Janelli, Ervay, Thornton, Jalonick, Grauwyler, Armstrong, Zang, Santos and Bartos.  There were no burials at Oakland until 1892.  Rules and Regulations were adopted November 21, 1892.  O. S. Riggen purchased the first 30 acres in the spring of 1891.  The first six lots were sold to John McCoy.  His wife, Mary was the first burial in November 1892.  O. S. Riggen died in 1891 and was buried at Trinity cemetery next to his wife (now Greenwood cemetery).  They were both moved to Oakland and were the 9th and 10th burials.

The promise of a vibrant park.

This cultural resource and island of tranquility in the heart of the city can be revived. Oakland Cemetery opened for interments in 1891, 129 years ago and the names of residents are Dallas household names. Planned on a forest and lawn theme, with gently curving lanes and trees on 60 acres, Oakland Cemetery has the potential to become a serene space in the heart of Dallas. As part of the ongoing national research, the Dallas County Audubon Society has been conducting annual bird counts at Oakland Cemetery since 1957. The Cemetery in September, 2021 was included in the Fair Park and South Dallas neighborhoods Cultural District designation from the Texas Commission for the Arts.

Photo by Glenn Johnson
Photo by Glenn Johnson

Today, Oakland Cemetery Lot Owners Association Inc. is a 501(c)(13) private operating foundation managing the restoration and maintenance of Oakland Cemetery of Dallas. This is complemented by a fund at the Dallas Foundation to sponsor (c)(3) activities designed to reinvent the final resting place and cultural treasure into a park that can sustain itself with a combination of private investment and revenue streams, in the tradition of Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery, West Philadelphia’s The Woodlands and Brooklyn’s Green-Wood.

Photos by Glenn Johnson

Oakland Cemetery of Dallas’ primary mission is to restore and preserve a complex and historic Dallas artifact. The gravestones, burial plots, mausoleums, funerary art and architecture, hardscape, and supporting infrastructure are the collective historic record of the cemetery and Dallas’s former residents. Often Oakland Cemetery gravestones are the only record of residents’ lives, familial relationships, and impact on Dallas’ cultural landscape. They trace the timeline of American and Texas history following wars, epidemics, economic inequity, migration and immigration.