Hollywood Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Hollywood Cemetery in Harris County. Now settle in, because this story starts with a bridge, ends with over thirty thousand souls, and covers more than a century of Houston history in between. William James Moore and his brother Samuel B.

Moore purchased the first fifty-five acres in three separate transactions in the spring of 1895. Three transactions. They were thorough men.

The original charter of the Hollywood Cemetery Association of Harris County was filed on December 23, 1902, and from that point forward, this ground had a name and a purpose to match. The original entrance brought citizens in from Fulton Avenue, crossing a bridge over Little White Oak Bayou. There's something fitting about crossing water to reach a place like this.

That entrance held until the Texas Highway Department constructed I-45, and then the way in moved to the west side of the property. Progress makes its own demands. Now, the first known burial here is that of a ten-month-old child named Buck Henry Warner, who died of congestion in July of 1895.

That's worth pausing on. The land had barely been purchased before it was called into service for the saddest kind of duty. The people who followed Buck Henry Warner into this ground read like a roll call of Houston itself.

Actors, artists, mayors, judges. The first Houston librarian rests here. Veterans from the Civil War all the way to the present.

Naturalist Henry Philemon Attwater. Nurseryman Shinpei Mykawa. Mayors Richard H.

Fonville and Andrew Lee Jackson. Texas House Speaker Franklin O. Fuller.

Over thirty thousand graves in all, making Hollywood one of Houston's oldest and largest cemeteries. Someone had to keep all of this. Frank P.

Moore, and the marker is careful to note he had no relation to the Moore brothers who founded the place, managed the cemetery for its first twenty-five years, until his death in 1919. Owen H. Gatton stepped in and managed the site from 1919 to 1926.

Then came the Hall family. Thomas C. Hall and his heirs operated the cemetery for almost seventy years, from 1926 through 1994.

Almost seventy years. That's not management, that's stewardship passed down like an heirloom. Today, Historic Hollywood Cemetery, Inc. continues to care for this beautiful historic ground.

More than a century on, and the work of keeping faith with the dead goes right on.

What the marker says

ONE OF HOUSTON'S OLDEST AND LARGEST CEMETERIES, WITH OVER 30,000 GRAVES, HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY HAS SERVED AS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR HOUSTON RESIDENTS FOR OVER A CENTURY. WILLIAM JAMES MOORE AND HIS BROTHER, SAMUEL B. MOORE, PURCHASED THE FIRST 55 ACRES IN THREE TRANSACTIONS IN THE SPRING OF 1895. THE ORIGINAL CHARTER OF THE HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION OF HARRIS COUNTY WAS FILED ON DECEMBER 23, 1902. THE ORIGINAL ENTRANCE VIA A BRIDGE CROSSING LITTLE WHITE OAK BAYOU BROUGHT CITIZENS INTO THE PROPERTY FROM FULTON AVENUE. WHEN THE TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT CONSTRUCTED I-45, THE ENTRANCE WAS MOVED TO THE WEST SIDE OF THE PROPERTY. THE FIRST KNOWN BURIAL IS THAT OF TEN MONTH OLD BUCK HENRY WARNER WHO DIED OF CONGESTION IN JULY 1895. MANY BURIALS IN THIS CEMETERY MARK PROMINENT HOUSTON CITIZENS INCLUDING ACTORS, ARTISTS, MAYORS, JUDGES, THE FIRST HOUSTON LIBRARIAN, AND VETERANS FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE PRESENT. NATURALIST HENRY PHILEMON ATTWATER, NURSERYMAN SHINPEI MYKAWA, MAYORS RICHARD H. FONVILLE AND ANDREW LEE JACKSON, AND TEXAS HOUSE SPEAKER FRANKLIN O. FULLER ARE BURIED HERE. DURING THE CEMETERY'S FIRST ONE HUNDRED YEARS, IT WAS MAINTAINED AND OPERATED BY THREE MAJOR OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT GROUPS, PLUS SOME SHORT PERIODS OF INTERIM MANAGEMENT. FRANK P. MOORE (NO RELATION TO THE MOORE BROTHERS) MANAGED THE CEMETERY FOR ITS FIRST 25 YEARS, UNTIL MOORE'S DEATH IN 1919. OWEN H. GATTON MANAGED THE SITE FROM 1919 TO 1926. THE HALL FAMILY, THOMAS C. HALL AND HIS HEIRS, OPERATED THE CEMETERY FOR ALMOST 70 YEARS, FROM 1926 THROUGH 1994. HISTORIC HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY, INC. CONTINUES TO CARE FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL HISTORIC CEMETERY.