DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll give it to you straight from these grounds. Now before Magnolia Cemetery was Magnolia Cemetery — before it had a name, a charter, or a company behind it — it was just a piece of ground where a woman named Henrietta Steiner came to bury her people. In 1884, she laid John P.W.
Steiner and Arthur Steiner to rest right here. That's where this story starts. A few days later, several members of the First German Methodist Church of Houston did something that would outlast all of them.
They established Magnolia Cemetery — set aside for the exclusive use of church members. You can almost feel the weight of that decision, can't you? A few days after a burial, standing on ground that had already held grief, they chose to make it permanent.
For eight years that charter held. Then in 1892, the Magnolia Cemetery Company applied for an amended charter — opening up membership privileges to others beyond the congregation. The circle got wider.
The land itself kept shifting over the decades. In 1929, the trustees deeded a portion of unused cemetery land to the City of Houston — right-of-way for something called Buffalo Drive, which you probably know today as Allen Parkway. Then in the early 1970s, the group sold another unused parcel to the neighboring American General Insurance Company.
That land was later converted to park space — and together with the Gus S. Wortham mausoleum, it helps create what the marker calls a contemplative environment for visitors and area citizens. A cemetery making room for the living to sit quietly.
There's something right about that. By 1984, Magnolia Cemetery became a perpetual care facility, operating as a nonprofit corporation. Perpetual care.
That's a promise with no expiration date. Today, more than 3,800 persons are interred here — veterans of most U.S. wars, the Civil War among them. And many descendants of those buried here are still active, still coming back, still tending to their families' resting place.
Henrietta Steiner came here in 1884 with her grief and her dead, and she started something she couldn't have planned. More than a century later, the ground is still keeping its promises.
What the marker says
On these grounds in 1884, Henrietta Steiner buried family members John P.W. and Arthur Steiner. A few days later, several members of the First German Methodist Church Of Houston established Magnolia Cemetery for the exclusive use of church members. The Magnolia Cemetery Company applied in 1892 for an amended charter, extending membership privileges to others. Trustees deeded a portion of unused cemetery land to the City of Houston in 1929 to provide right-of-way for Buffalo Drive, now Allen Parkway. In the early 1970s, the group sold another unused part of the land to neighboring American General Insurance Company. This land was later converted to park space that, with the Gus S. Wortham mausoleum, helps create a contemplative environment for visitors and area citizens. In 1984, Magnolia Cemetery became a perpetual care facility, operating as a nonprofit corporation. Among the more than 3,800 persons interred here are veterans of most U.S. wars, including the Civil War. Many descendants of those buried here are active in preserving their families' resting place. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002