Esparza Cemetery
Brownsville,Cameron County, Texas
Cemeteries of Texas Coordinator: Dolores I. Bishop
Information provided by the State of Texas Atlas Site
Location:
US 281, 8.5 mi. W of Brownsville
Marker:
This graveyard was named for Carlos Villarreal Esparza (1828-1885), whose family's occupation of the surrounding ranch land began in the early 19th century. According to family records, the original Esparza Cemetery was established south of this site in the mid-1800s. In 1888, Carlos' widow Francisca Garcia Esparza moved his grave and those of other family members because of flooding and other problems at the old cemetery. It is believed that Carlos' parents, Pedro and Felicidad Villarreal Esparza, are interred here. The cemetery is the resting place of family members who served in World Wars I and II, local civic and political leaders, officers in law enforcement and the Texas Rangers. A record of the area's Mexican American pioneers, it continues to serve the community. (1999)