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In 1891, O.S. Riggen (1852-1891) purchased 60 acres in rural Dallas County, outside the city limits, with the vision to establish a rural garden cemetery. Riggen succeeded in interesting others to join the venture, but died before his vision could materialize. That same year, Oakland Cemetery Company incorporated and, in 1892, purchased 60 acres each from Z.E. Coombes and W.B. Gano; W.H. Lewis; and Joe Weil and W.N. Coe. Landscape architect Benjamin Grove (1823-1915) designed and mapped 120 of the cemetery’s 180 acres. John McCoy purchased the first lot for his wife, Mary Alice McCoy, on November 11, 1892. McCoy also had six family members reinterred here.
Oakland Cemetery Company sold and acquired land, causing the borders to be redrawn several times. The company dissolved and Oakland Cemetery Lot Owners Association (OCLOA) was incorporated as a non-profit in 1924. Notable burials include those of Dallas Mayors Henry Ervay (1834-1911), Winship C. Connor (1849-1921), Franklin Pierce Holland (1852-1928), William Meredith Holland (1875-1966), and Louis Blaylock (1849-1932), Lieutenant Governor Barnett “Barney” Gibbs (1850-1904), U.S. Representatives Edwin le Roy Antony (1852-1913) and James Andrew Beall (1866-1929). The site contains several impressive monuments and gravestones, including an obelisk measuring 42 feet 7 inches for J.F. Strickland, a Texas interurban builder, and a memorial of Georgian marble for Louis A. Pires, philanthropist and senior director of City National Bank of Dallas. Amongst the 27,000 interments are numerous gravestones with fraternal markings, such as Masons, Shriners, Knights of Pythias, and Woodmen of the World. Today, the cemetery serves as a reminder of early Dallas and the final resting place of generations of citizens.
Historic Texas Cemetery – 2022
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