Fairview Cemetery is the largest, oldest and most historic burial ground in Bastrop, Texas. It is significant as an early Republic of Texas cemetery located in one of the stateâÂÂs earliest communities and as the resting place of numerous notable public figures, including state and local elected officials and military veterans dating back to the War of 1812.
The site is listed as a Historic Texas Cemetery. A plaque recognizing this designation was installed in 2003. There are 10 additional markers throughout the grounds, seven erected by the Texas Historical Commission and three by Bastrop County Historical Society.
Plans for the town of Bastrop were laid out in 1830-1831 by empresario Stephen F. AustinâÂÂs Land Commissioner Jose Miguel de Arciniega. The plat made provisions for a public square, a municipal building, a jail, schools, a slaughterhouse and a 12-acre cemetery.
The cemetery is located on a high wooded hill northeast of the town center. The layout is unique in that graves at the top of the rise are more than 100 feet above lower ones. Initially, it was called City Cemetery and citizens were given free burial plots. Residents voted to change the name in 1884.
There are four sections: white (old section), white (new section), African American and pauper. The oldest part of the cemetery is on top of the hill. Most headstones in this area face away from the highway. This was reportedly done so that 19th century mourners could be on the lookout for raiding Native Americans.
According to local lore, the first grave was dug in 1831 for Sarah Wells, the young daughter of colonist Martin Wells. It was not marked. The first marked grave belongs to Crescentia Augusta Fischer, a German immigrant who died in 1841 of yellow fever she contracted in Galveston, Texas, five days before her arrival in Bastrop.
The graves of eight people are marked with historic plaques. Two additional markers honor groups of individuals.
In 2023, The City of Bastrop began a 622-plot expansion and addition of a columbarium with 480 niches. Prior to the project's start, a "ground-truthing" survey, via ground-penetrating radar (GPR), was conducted to identify unmarked graves in the west sector. In the cemetery's early years, black, brown and indigent people were often buried there without markers.
Although the identity of those buried cannot be known, the grave sites revealed via GPR were marked. Lots where no burials were identified were made available for purchase.
Bastrop County Historical Society hosts an annual guided walking tour through Fairview Cemetery. Actors, spread throughout the grounds, tell the stories of notable figures from the past and how they influenced the county's history.
Every December 13, the cemetery participates in Wreaths Across America Day, an event in which volunteers place donated wreaths on veterans' graves It is sponsored by the King's Highway Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce and local businesses.