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The Magnolia Grove Association, formed in 1870, made plans to establish a cemetery atop this ridge to serve the entire community of Galveston. The land chosen was divided into 25 sections. Association members purchased individual plots and on June 20, 1870, the cemetery was formally established. A storm that struck Galveston Island in 1875 severely damaged the cemetery grounds. The graveyard fell into disrepair soon after the storm. All cemetery property except previously purchased burial plots was repossessed in 1878. Shortly thereafter the association went bankrupt and the graves of members of as many as 22 families were removed to other graveyards. Nevertheless, burials continued in some sections of the cemetery for several years. By 1900 and after several land transactions, much of the original cemetery became the property of B. E. Mann and T. A. Cobb. Although the cemetery was again damaged in the storm of 1900, photographs reveal many gravestones here in 1922. In 1941 the city of Galveston exhumed the remaining marked gravesites as it began development of an airport. A section of the original cemetery was set aside as a permanent "green space" by the Galveston City Council in 1986. |
