Alta Loma Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the official marker for Alta Loma Cemetery, out in Galveston County. Now settle in, because this one's got the whole sweep of a place that rose up, thrived, and then, well, mostly disappeared, leaving its dead to tell the story. The cemetery is organized in 1897, this burial ground served the ranching and farming community of Alta Loma.

And to understand why that matters, you have to go back just a few years before that. In 1893, the Alta Loma Investment and Improvement Company, located in Colorado, established the town site. The name, Alta Loma, means High Land in Spanish.

Out here on the Texas coastal plain, that name carries a certain weight. Then in 1894, a man named William Skirvin, who is himself buried in this very cemetery, led the first party of settlers to the new town. Think about that.

The man who brought the first folks in, he stayed. Permanently. When the investment company established Alta Loma, it set aside land for cemetery use.

But setting aside land and actually handing it over are two different things, and it was not until 1897 that the company presented the deed to the town for this property. That same year, the first burial occurred here. It was the infant son of the Stobart family.

A community beginning, and a family's grief, arriving in the same year. That's the weight this ground has carried from the very start. Over the years, others followed.

Members of early pioneering families who raised longhorn cattle in the area. Residents of nearby settlements. Community and business leaders.

Immigrants. Teachers. Preachers.

Veterans of military conflicts dating all the way back to World War I. All of them finding their way to this piece of high land. In 1904 the Alta Loma Cemetery Association was organized, and that association continues to maintain the community burial ground to this day.

Walk through and you'll find curbed plots, vertical stones, false crypts, grave slabs, and statuary. The markers of lives, in every sense of the word. Now here's where the story takes its turn.

In 1978, Santa Fe incorporated Alta Loma into its city limits. The town, as a town, was gone. And as the marker puts it plainly, this burial ground is now one of the few remaining vestiges of Alta Loma, a reminder of a non-existent settlement.

The living community faded. The cemetery endured. It's a testament to the pioneering men and women who resided here long ago, and a record of their once thriving community.

William Skirvin led them in. The cemetery holds them still.

What the marker says

Organized in 1897, this burial ground served the ranching and farming community of Alta Loma. In 1893 the Alta Loma Investment and Improvement Company located in Colorado established the town site, whose name means "High Land", in Spanish. IN 1894 William Skirvin, who is buried here, led the first party of settlers to the new town. When the investment company established Alta Loma it set aside land for cemetery use. However it was not until 1897 when the company presented the deed to the town for this property. The first burial here occured that year, when the infant son of the Stobart family died. others interred includ members of eary pioneering families who raised longhorn cattle in the area, as well as residents of other near by settlements. in addition, community and buisness leaders, immigrants, teachers, preachers, veterans of military conflicts dating to World War I, are also burried here The Alta Loma cemetery association, organized in 1904, continue to maintain the community burial ground. Cemetery features include curbed plots, verticle stones, false crypts, grave slabs and statuary. In 1978 Santa Fe incorporated Alta Loma into its city limits. As one of the few remaining vestiges of Alta Loma, this burial ground is a reminder of the non-existant settlement. It continues to serve as a testament to the pioneering men and women who resided here long ago and is a record of their once thriving community. Historic Texas Cemetery 2007