LOCATION; 1501 Wichita Street, McAllen, Texas, just east of McAllen-Miller International Airport.

HISTORY: La Piedad (Sp. "mercy") Cemetery, oldest in McAllen, has existed since at least 1895. (McAllen was founded in 1904.) Located on property owned by merchant-rancher John McAllen in the late 1800s, it probably began as a small cemetery on the extensive McAllen Ranch. Oldest marked grave is that of Gertrudis Cavazos (1856-1895), who is buried in the family plot beside her husband, Blas Maria Cavazos 1850-1901).

Memorial Day services are held annually to honor over 250 military veterans from World Wars I and II, Korean and Vietnam Wars, buried there. Soldiers from foreign armies include Frenchman Maximiliano Ramat (1872-1954), a veterinarian who served with General Pancho Villa of Mexico (his headstone appropriately has a drawing of a dog), and Mexican Cavalry Lieutenant Clemente Orozco Mata (1875-1938).

In 1965, Emmett L. and Margaret L. Arnold deeded 10.69 acres to La Piedad Cemetery.. Another 2.05 acres was acquired from the City of McAllen in 1972.

The Asociacion del Cementario La Piedad, founded in 1913 and incorporated April 29, 1930, maintains the 12-acre cemetery. There are over 7,000 graves. In 1991, newly elected president of the Asociacion Edwardo Alaniz Sr. began a major campaign to preserve the neglected cemetery, threatened by airport expansion. Roads were paved, grounds landscaped, boundaries surveyed and fenced, and regular grounds- keeping instituted.., Texas Historical Marker application 2004.