Jefferson County Historical Commission

History of Jefferson County - Cemeteries


Jefferson County has over 74 cemeteries and graveyards. They vary in size from a single recorded burial (the German Cemetery) to more than 31,000 interments in the Greenlawn Memorial Park in Groves. Many of the burials are listed in the Find A Grave website. You can access that site from this link www.findagrave.com

Before there was an internet, however, the records of burials were maintained by hand. The Jefferson County Historical Commission is fortunate to have in its possession the lists compiled by Mrs. Mildred Wright over the years and copyrighted in 1979 and 1981. Descriptions and locations of markers were recorded in three books which have been scanned and are now available from the following links:

Part 1:

Oak Bluff Memorial Park Cemetery, Port Neches

Part 2:

Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Port Arthur Memory Gardens, Mid-County Live Oak Memorial Park

Part 3:

A multitude of cemeteries and graveyards

Surveys of the larger cemeteries (e.g., Magnolia and Forest Lawn in Beaumont and Greenlawn and Johnson in Port Arthur) are not included because their records are available at the respective cemeteries.

Besides individual burials, information may be found on at least 28 historical markers for the county cemeteries which can be obtained from the Texas Historical Commission's Atlas when selecting the Cemetery checkbox for searching.

The map of the Sabine Pass McGaffey or Wild Wave Cemetery, along with sporadic association minutes from November of 1915 to June 1956, has been scanned and can be accessed from this link Sabine Pass Cemetery Association Minutes and Map