Memorial Square

Once the oldest public burial ground in Victoria, this square was laid in 1824 when Martin de Leon founded the town, then located in the Mexican State of "Coahuila and Texas". In early years the cemetery included the block to the east, and many Victoria pioneers were interred here. Burials of soldiers in the Texas Revolution took place in 1836 and later. The cemetery was only occasionally used, however, until 1846, when an ordinance was passed deterring burials in family cemeteries, possibly to combat a cholera epidemic. Many who succumbed were citizens but some were soldiers, under General Zachary Taylor. As the community grew, a larger plot (now Evergreen Cemetery) was purchased in 1850. Later in the Civil War, Confederate soldiers were interred here, but after the war some members of the Federal Army of Occupation unfortunately destroyed many headstones, so that today most of the gravesites are unknown. As burials here gradually ceased, the ground came to be used for other purposes and since 1899 has been designated Memorial Square. It is today devoted to the preservation of monuments to Texas history and to the remembrance of Texas' honored dead. 1968

Memorial Square is a historical marker in Victoria, Victoria County, dedicated in 1968. It is one of 99 historical markers documented in Victoria County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 240 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 28.8012, -97.0018 near Victoria. The nearest cataloged historic site is Pridham, Peter Underhay (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Memorial Square Cemetery, Victoria County Monument, and Schummacker Company Building.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5469003327. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.