Texas State Cemetery

Although I spent 5 weeks after graduate school traveling and studying urban cemeteries, it took me 7 years of living in Austin to finally visit the Texas State Cemetery.  It's east of I-35 in Austin about a mile from the state capitol building which supplies most of the interred residents.  There is a list of burial requirements, and the top two are being a former state official or member of the state legislature.  Beyond that a person may be selected based on their specific contributions to the state and its history.

The Texas State Cemetery was officially established in 1854  and became a burial site for prominent Texas and Austinites, such as Austin's first mayor Edwin Waller.  A later movement to get Texas historical and cultural icons re-interred to the cemetery found the likes of Stephen F. Austin having a new grave established there.  In 1939 the Texas Highway Department paved the cemetery road and declared it Highway 165, which at 1/2 mile is the shortest in Texas.  With a 10mph posted speed limit I also imagine it's the slowest highway in Texas (except MoPac at rush hour).  In 1994 Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock led efforts to renovate the cemetery which resulted in a new visitor center, a recirculating pond, a columbarium wall, and other improvements.

Entry with Highway 165 Sign and Posted Speed Limit

The limestone monument sign on 7th Street for the Texas State Cemetery has a backdrop of some large live oak trees, whose dark shaded canopies contrast the bright stone.  The wall's overgrout joints give the look of older masonry, although I suspect it's actually part of the 1994 renovation because it matches closely the stone work at the visitor center that was completed in 1996 as part of that same effort.
The visitor center is a long building off Navasota Street, and the structure was modeled after the barracks at the Alamo.  I mistakenly thought is was an older building when I visited and hadn't yet read much about the history of the cemetery.  There are some vertical expansion joints along the wall where you can see how they overlapped the  coursing for the different height bands of stone for the wall.  The wrought iron gates here at the main entry (and also at other side entries) have a star-topped Fleur-de-lis that matches that of the fencing at the Texas Capitol.

Visitor Center

Vertical Expansion Joint in Stone Wall

Star-topped Fleur-de-lis

The recirculating pond is the first thing you see as you pass through into the cemetery, and it screams out English pastoral landscape to me.   The turf and trees character of the cemetery overall has a "memorial park"  feel to it.  The Tasman Flax Lily and Knockout Rose in the foreground just add to that, and I wish that the first impression from plants was more from  a native Texas pallette.  Limestone shelf rock boulders line the edge of the pond and form a few short waterfalls that give a damp place for some ferns and Ruellia to grow.  Where the limestone doesn't cover you can see the gunite shell of the pond.  Further down the water intake is obscured in shadow by a limestone overhang and the shade of an adjacent tree.

View of Recirculating Pond from Entry

Plants at Waterfall

Exposed Gunite

Pond Terminus

Highway 165 is a narrow vehicular roadway, 12' at most, that has concrete tire tracks and flagstone paving for the center stripe and edge.  Having the width broken up with different materials does help to give more of a pedestrian scale to the road which is nice.  A double allee of Texas flags runs down the north/south axis of the road just in case you forgot what state the cemetery was representing.  Texas is also celebrated explicitly in some grave markers as well, such as the granite marker I saw with the outline of the state.

Highway 165 with Flags

Roadway Paving

Texas-Shaped Grave Marker

There is some topography to the site, and the tallest point is Monument Hill which is topped with an oak tree surrounded by a low limestone seat wall.  It's a great place to sit and look out on the landscape.  Down to the south there's a view of low hanging branches of a live oak tree shading a surrounding group of graves.  If the grass wasn't so green and manicured the vista  would almost have a Hill Country feel to it.

Monument Hill Oak

Shaded Graves

Narrow (about 2' wide), exposed aggregate concrete paths wind their way through most of the grave sites.  This includes the white marble headstone for former Governor Ann Richards.  So much of the stone in the cemetery is local limestone or granite that it's unusual to find the white marble there. 
The confederate field is similar to many military grave sites and is striking for its uniformity.  When you are standing under the deep shade of oak trees looking out at the white limestone markers in bright sunlight the contrast of light adds to the drama of the view.

Exposed Aggregate Concrete Pedestrian Paths

Governor Ann Willis Richards Grave Marker

Confederate Field

A memorial plaza is on the south side of the cemetery, and it includes a variety of scales of natural stone.  I thought the mix of large flagstone pieces with smaller, almost mosaic pieces for the paving was interesting.  Drain covers are also crafted from the same stone with holes drilled in them.  It's not as clean a look as I would like, but the intent is laudable.  Steps up to the plaza have extended risers just above each landing that give a unique look to the stairs.

Memorial Plaza Wall

Flagstone Paving

Stone Drain Cover

Stone Steps to Memorial Plaza

Overall the cemetery feels more like a historic site to me than a burial ground.  I think that's mainly because the lack of personalization of graves with flowers, etc. like I am familiar with from other urban cemeteries I have visited.  It's also a cemetery that's striving to preserve history of the state, so it seems appropriate that this is what the landscape evokes.