Easter Sunday

Today's somewhat fitting photo is at the McNair Family Memorial located in the Glenwood Cemetery.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Not Your Typical Heart Day

Today is Valentine's Day and as usual, hearts will be featured on cards and advertising. I decided to take a different twist as today's image is from the Cooley family plot in Glenwood Cemetery. If the symbol looks familiar it is because I originally featured it HERE.

You Can't Take It With You

... or so I've been told.

Among those interred at Glenwood cemetery is one of the 20th century's most iconic business and aviation figures, Howard Hughes. This is a glimpse of the Hughes Family Memorial.

Faked Out

Mexican born artist, Dionicio Rodriguez, recognized as one of America’s foremost faux bois sculptors, created this cross in Woodlawn cemetery that resembled wood, even though it is really made of concrete.

Either way… it is still very striking.

Rest and Reflect

I have always found cemeteries fascinating places to wander through. I’m weird that way.

While some cemeteries provide incredible monuments to past lives, others provide a simpler means of remembrance. This terrace and fountain located within Woodlawn Cemetery provide just that.

New and Old...

I introduced you to Glenwood Cemetery several days ago, and while it remains one of the more "historic" burial places in Houston it still is an active cemetery.

That is evident here with the very modern "broken oblisk" memorial or Dr. John P. Laurent. Very contrasting to the surrounding monuments, don't you think?

Glenwood Cemetery

Glenwood Cemetery was formed in 1871 as the first professionally planned cemetery in Houston. Located within view of the downtown skyline, it is the final resting place of several locally historic dignitaries, as well as, citizens of the Republic of Texas as shown HERE.

This weeping angel, the Hill Family Monument, is one of the more recognizable memorials on the grounds, which is a very peaceful and serene place to escape the hectic pace of one’s day.

Jack Yates

Jack Yates was a former slave, pastor and educator that developed the hopes of African Americans in post-emancipation Houston, helping form this area into what it is today. Yates was the first pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church in 1868, and also organized Bethel Baptist Church in 1890. Not only did he insist his congregation educate themselves, he led by example in lobbying for the opening of Bishop College, the first black Baptist College in Texas. His family cemetery plot, as seen here, is located in the nearby College Memorial Park Cemetery.

Wreaths Across America

Every year, the organization Wreaths Across America raises funds and organizes volunteers in an attempt to place holiday wreaths on each of the burial sites at the Houston National Cemetery.

Not your usual Christmas image, but still a very moving one.

Creepy, Scary Halloween Post #6

Olivewood Cemetery

Incorporated in 1877 by Houston’s first African American alderman, Richard Brock, Olivewood Cemetery was the first know graveyard for blacks within the city limits. Tucked away at the end of a dead-end street, near a bend in White Oak Bayou it was the burial site for freed slaves before becoming the resting place for several early influential Houstonians. After being abandoned in the 1960s, it became overgrown with vegetation with only the taller monuments rising over the undergrowth.

If that’s not scary enough, the ghost of Mary White is said to appear and hover over her tombstone, and neighbors report shadowy movements after dark.

In 2003, the non-profit group Descendants of Olivewood was formed with the intent of restoring the site and protecting its historical significance, and to date has cleared 2 of the cemetery’s 8 acres.

Happy Birthday!!!

Today marks the birthday of the City of Houston.

174 years ago toady Augustus and John Kirby Allen posted in the Texas Register an advert announcing the "Town of Houston". The rest, as we say, is history.

Houston Fire Department regulations prohibit the lighting of so many candles, so a cake was not in order. However, to honor his courage and foresight, here is the final resting place of John Kirby Allen. Located in Founders Cemetery on W. Dallas St. just a few miles from where he and his brother landed on Buffalo Bayou, he lies forever watching over the continued growth of his dreams and labors.