Hays County Historical Commission To Host Dedication Ceremony For Kyle Family Pioneer Cemetery

Hays County Courthouse, San Marcos, TX – The Texas Historical Commission has recognized the Kyle Family Pioneer Cemetery as a significant part of Texas history by authorizing the placement of an Official Historic Texas Cemetery Marker by the Hays County Historical Commission.

According to the approved application for the marker, “The discovery of the old slave cemetery was an exciting event in the Kyle area, especially amongst the African-American community. It was a testament to the determination of local historians to preserve a very important part of the history of the area.”

A dedication ceremony to commemorate the event will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, September 28, at the cemetery, 2601 S. Old Stagecoach Road, Kyle. Prior to the ceremony, at 2 p.m. there will be an informal tour of the Kyle Family Pioneer Cemetery and the adjoining Kyle Cemetery.

The Hays County Historical Commission welcomes the public to share in and witness this historic event.

According to the Hays County Historical Commission website, “This old African-American cemetery, adjacent to Kyle Cemetery, has recently (December 2007) had an official name change though the action of the Hays County Commissioners Court and at the recommendation of longtime San Marcos researcher and genealogist Ollie Giles. Referred to for decades as the “Slave Cemetery” by the few locals who were even aware of it, the site (in 2008) in fact has no surviving tombstones indicating slavery-era deaths, though the slave-holding Claiborne Kyle family lived nearby starting in about 1849, suggesting there may have been slave burials here.”

In 2008, the Kyle Family Pioneer Cemetery became one of five area cemeteries maintained by a Hays County Commissioners Court contract with San Marcos resident Gene Bagwell.

For more information about the Hays County Historical Commission, visit www.HaysHistoricalCommission.com.

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One Comment

  1. On behalf of the Kyle family, thank you so much for this honor… My mother, Tonnie Lee Kyle, took great pride in the name of K-Y-L-E (she always spelled it out) and the town of KYLE… Thank you.

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