Concordia Cemetery (El Paso, Texas) Explained

Concordia Cemetery
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Location:Yandell, El Paso, Texas
Graves:Over 60,000

Concordia Cemetery is a burial ground in El Paso, Texas. It is known for the being the burial place of several gunslingers and old west lawmen. The first burial took place in 1856. There are between 60,000 and 65,000 graves in the cemetery. Concordia is the only place to have a Chinese cemetery in Texas.

About

The main entrance to the cemetery is on Yandell Street, east of Piedras.[1] The cemetery is 52 acres in size. Most of the Chinese burials in El Paso took place in Concordia and it is the only place in Texas to have a Chinese cemetery.[2] The Chinese came to El Paso with the railroad as workers and chose to stay.[3] There are also areas set aside for Buffalo Soldiers,[4] Freemasons, Mormons[5] and Jewish burials.[6] There is also an "infant nursery" with unmarked graves for babies, many of whom died due to the 1918 influenza pandemic which hit El Paso in January 1919.[7] It is possible that remains that were once part of the larger area of the cemetery are still located under houses and other property in the surrounding neighborhoods.[8] In 2012, there were more than 60,000 graves at the cemetery.[9] Other reports state there are around 65,000 graves.[10]

In 2016 and 2017, it was rated the Best Historic Cemetery in the West by True West Magazine.[11] [12] The cemetery is managed by the Concordia Heritage Association.[13] Special events at the cemetery include celebrations of Dia de los Muertos, ghost tours and meetings of the John Wesley Hardin Secret Society.[14] The ghost tours, given by Paso Del Norte Paranormal Society, were first started in order to help pay for maintenance of the cemetery.[15] Ghost Adventures featured the cemetery on an episode aired on October 29, 2016.[16]

History

The cemetery was once a ranch known as Rancho Concordia, and built by Hugh and Juana Stephenson in the 1840s.[17] Hugh Stephenson married the local Juana Maria Ascarate, and her family gave them the land where they built the ranch. The ranch they built included a chapel and a cemetery. Juana became the first person buried in that cemetery in 1856, after she was gored by a pet deer and died of an infection. Also in 1859, a Catholic Church was built on the site called San José de Concordia el Alto.[18]

In 1882, the city of El Paso bought part of the ranch in order to bury the poor.[19] The different sections of the cemetery were purchased by diverse groups of people by the 1890s, including Jesuits, Catholics, Freemasons, Jewish people, African Americans, Chinese, military, the city and El Paso County. Because of this, no one took responsibility for the upkeep of the cemetery as a whole. In the 1960s, the cemetery was not in good shape and was owned by both private and public interests. In 1990, the Concordia Heritage Association was formed to preserve and maintain the cemetery. In 2012, the Ysleta Lions Club, the Five Points Lions Club and Martin Funeral Homes donated 250 desert willows to the cemetery and helped plant the trees.[20]

Notable burials

External links

31.7803°N -106.4467°W

Notes and References

  1. News: Concordia can give you some grave pleasure. Metz. Leon. 17 October 2005. El Paso Times.
  2. News: Chinese workers helped build railroads, El Paso. Crowder. David. 30 January 2017. El Paso Inc.. 2017-06-23. en.
  3. Sepulveda. Rudy. 2000. Pioneer Ranch Became Concordia Cemetery. Borderlands. 19.
  4. News: Concordia Cemetery a great place to revisit history. Metz. Leon. 13 October 2008. El Paso Times.
  5. Web site: The Ghostly Grandeur Of A Desert Graveyard. Ulaby. Neda. NPR.org. 2017-06-18.
  6. Book: Torok, George D.. From the Pass to the Pueblos. 2012. 9780865348967. 103. Sunstone Press .
  7. Web site: Concordia – A Desert Graveyard in El Paso, Texas . Sharp. Jay W.. DesertUSA. 2017-06-22.
  8. News: Experts say Concordia Cemetery pieces still in homes. Pardo. Daniela. 2016-10-31. ElPasoProud. 2017-06-22. en-US.
  9. News: Pictures of Concordia Cemetery: Group collects photos, stories for book on historic cemetery. Renteria. Ramon. 1 July 2012. El Paso Times.
  10. Web site: Concordia Cemetery. Espinoza. Lizette. 26 April 2009. Borderzine. en-US. 2017-06-22.
  11. News: Best of the West 2016: Heritage Travel. 2015-12-29. True West Magazine. 2017-06-18. en-US.
  12. News: True West's Best of the West 2017: Heritage Travel. 2016-12-28. True West Magazine. 2017-06-18. en-US.
  13. News: True West's Ultimate Historic Travel Guide. 2016-12-08. True West Magazine. 2017-06-18. en-US.
  14. News: El Paso From Six Feet Under. Leperi. Karin. 25 April 2013. San Diego Reader. 2017-06-23. en.
  15. Web site: Downtown's history as scary as the ghost tours. Gallegos. Andres. 18 October 2016. The Prospector. 2017-06-23.
  16. News: 'Ghost Adventures' Films at Area Haunted Landmarks. Willis. Damien. 13 January 2017. Las Cruces Sun-News. 26 June 2017.
  17. News: Western Specters. Joyce. Matt. September 2014. Texas Highways. 2017-06-18. en-gb. https://web.archive.org/web/20170806115436/http://texashighways.com/history/item/7569-western-specters-el-paso-concordia-cemetery. 2017-08-06. dead.
  18. Web site: El Paso, Catholic Diocese of. McKee. Okla A.. 12 June 2010. Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. 23 June 2017.
  19. Book: Weird Texas: Your Travel Guide to Texas's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Treat. Wesley. Shade. Heather. Riggs. Rob. Sterling Publications. 2005. 9781402766879. New York. 258.
  20. News: 250 Trees Donated to Concordia Cemetery. Ramirez. Cindy. 15 March 2012. El Paso Times.
  21. News: Memorial Day: Concordia Cemetery to honor 176 buried veterans. Bracamontes. Aaron. 25 May 2014. El Paso Times.
  22. Web site: Orozco, Pascual, Jr.. Kohut. Martin Donell. 15 June 2010. Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. 23 June 2017.
  23. News: The Outlaw Trail. 2015-05-26. True West Magazine. 2017-06-18. en-US.
  24. Book: Alexander, Bob. Riding Lucifer's Line. University of North Texas Press. 2013. 9781574415131. Denton, Texas. 154. subscription . Project MUSE.
  25. Web site: Concordia Page Two – A Desert Graveyard in El Paso Texas. Sharp. Jay W.. www.desertusa.com. 2017-06-22.

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