Hillside Cemetery

Duane's take

The way the marker at Hillside Cemetery tells it, here's what you need to know before you drive on past. It all started with a survey. In 1873, the community of Cuero was laid out for the Cuero Land and Immigration Company.

That same year — same year, mind you — the city incorporated, and the GWT&P Railroad stretched its track all the way out to Cuero from Indianola. A new town, a new railroad, and the future looking wide open. Two years on, in 1875, the land company conveyed twelve acres at this very site for use as a municipal burial ground.

Twelve acres set aside, just like that, because a growing town has to make room for the ones who won't be staying. By 1880, the local women had seen enough neglect to do something about it. They formed a cemetery association — took it upon themselves to keep the burial plots maintained.

They raised funds, collected dues, hired a groundskeeper, made improvements. That's not a small thing. That's a community deciding that the dead deserve tending just as much as the living.

Over time, the cemetery grew. More acreage was added, and eventually it came to include what had once been a segregated African American cemetery called Evergreen. The Ladies' Cemetery Association kept their watch over this place for decades, right up until 1972, when they turned those duties over to the city.

But here's the part that quietly endures — an endowment established back in 1919 still generates funds for cemetery projects to this day. Some things are built to last. Now, Hillside is the final resting place for generations of DeWitt County residents.

Pioneer settlers. Artists, writers, educators, civic leaders. Elected officials and military veterans going all the way back to the Mexican War.

The whole sweep of a community's story is out here, underneath the Texas sky. And then there are the large monuments — and this is where the story gets heavy. They stand as reminders of the victims and survivors of the Indianola storms.

The storm of 1875. The storm of 1886. Two separate storms, years apart, and both of them left enough grief behind that the people of Cuero carved it into stone right here in this cemetery.

Notice that — not just victims. Survivors too. Someone thought it important to remember both.

The ones who were lost, and the ones who had to keep living after. That's Hillside Cemetery. Twelve acres that became something bigger, tended by women with dues and determination, carrying the weight of storms and wars and generations.

It's still here. Still being kept.

What the marker says

The new community of Cuero was surveyed for the Cuero Land & Immigration Co. in 1873. That same year, the city incorporated, and the GWT&P Railroad extended its track to it from Indianola. The land company conveyed 12 acres at this site for use as a municipal burial ground in 1875. By 1880, local women formed a cemetery association to maintain burial plots. They raised funds and collected dues to employ a groundskeeper to make cemetery improvements. The site grew to include additional acreage and the once segregated African American cemetery, Evergreen. The Ladies' Cemetery Association turned over its duties to the city in 1972, but an endowment established in 1919 continues to generate funds for cemetery projects. Today, Hillside Cemetery is the final resting place for generations of area residents. In addition to pioneer settlers, artists, writers, educators and civic leaders, those buried here include elected officials and military veterans of conflicts dating to the Mexican War. Large monuments are reminders of the victims and survivors of the Indianola storms of 1875 and 1886. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004