DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Trinity Portland Cement Company Cemetery, out in Dallas County. Now, some stories begin with grand ambitions and big machinery. This one begins with people — people who crossed a border to escape a revolution, and ended up building something permanent in Texas soil.
Permanent in ways they may not have planned. The Southwestern States Portland Cement Company was established in this area in 1909. Among its workforce were Mexican immigrants who had come to this part of Texas to escape the Mexican Revolution.
Then, in 1915, Trinity Portland Cement Company purchased the business, and the name changed with the ownership. Two company villages rose up near the cement plant — one for Anglo workers, one for the Mexican laborers. Two communities, side by side, each with its own rhythms and its own roots.
Around 1918, the company donated a piece of land so the Hispanic employees would have a place of their own — a community cemetery. El Camposanto. The holy ground.
And here's where the story takes that turn you can feel comin'. It is believed that the first souls laid to rest in that cemetery were victims of the influenza epidemic — the great epidemic of 1918. Among them, many children.
You let that sit for a moment. The very first burials in a brand-new cemetery, and already it was receivin' the smallest ones. In the years that followed, workers and their family members were interred there, and the residents of that company town kept watch over the grounds — cared for the place the way you care for something that belongs to everyone and to no one all at once.
Then came the last burial. Eladio R. Martinez, born in 1921, a native son of that very village.
He was killed in action in the Pacific during World War II, originally buried in the Philippines. He was reinterred here, brought home to the place that made him. The cemetery, which had opened receiving the smallest and most vulnerable, closed receiving a young man who had gone as far from Eagle Ford, Texas as a person can go — and was carried back.
By 1959, the company housing was gone. The villages cleared away. But that cemetery remained.
It remains still — a quiet, stubborn fact in the ground where the village of Eagle Ford once stood, keeping the names of those cement workers and their families from being forgotten altogether. The concrete may be long poured and set, but it's the earth of El Camposanto that's holdin' the real history.
What the marker says
El Camposanto de Cemento Grande De La Compania Trinity Portland The Southwestern States Portland Cement Company was established in this area in 1909. Many of the company's employees were Mexican immigrants who came to this area to escape the Mexican Revolution. The company name was changed after Trinity Portland Cement Company purchased the business in 1915. Two company villages were built near the cement plant, one for Anglos and one for Mexican laborers. About 1918, the company donated land for use as a community cemetery by its Hispanic employees. It is believed that the first people buried in the cemetery were victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic, including many children. A number of cement company workers and their family members were interred here, and the cemetery was cared for by residents of the company town. The last burial occurred when Eladio R. Martinez (1921 - 1945) was reinterred here. A native of the village, he was killed in action in the Pacific during World War II, and was originally buried in the Philippines. Although the company housing was removed from this area by 1959, this cemetery remains as a reminder of the village which once occupied this area, sometimes referred to as Eagle Ford, Texas.