Over the years, the Bratton family says headstones have gone missing, and the front gate of the cemetery has been damaged on several occasions.
SAN MARCOS, Texas — Families with loved ones buried at the historic San Marcos-Blanco Cemetery say they are frustrated by years of vandalism and neglect.
The cemetery, founded in 1893, serves as a final resting place for generations of African American residents in San Marcos.
There are currently 400 graves marked with headstones and inscriptions, but many do not have headstones and remain unmarked and undiscovered, according to the City of San Marcos’ website.
Robert Bratton, whose parents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles are buried at the site, said families have resorted to maintaining the cemetery themselves after repeated acts of vandalism.
Bratton says the earliest account of vandalism happened in 2011, after a truck smashed through the cemetery fence near his family’s graves.
“There were headstones here, but not anymore,” Bratton said– pointing to an area on the ground closest to the site’s fenced border. “They were literally knocked down. They were on the ground, scattered.”
On his next visit to the cemetery, Bratton says the headstones marking his relatives’ graves were gone.
Bratton said vandalism has continued in recent years, including the front gate of the cemetery being rammed down in 2023.
“It was bent up so bad, you couldn’t even straighten it out,” Bratton said.
The fence remained in disrepair for two years, during which time he says he believes made it easier for people to come in.
Bratton says they’ve found traces of wild hogs that have torn up the earth, and trash people have left behind, like a large log painted to look like a beer can.
Fed up with the conditions, Bratton says he and his family, as well as other concerned families pooled funds for fence repairs last year, costing them $5,000.
A month after the fence was fixed in July, Bratton says it was damaged again.
“I was angry because to me, it’s, like, total disrespect. Why?” Bratton said.
He and other families say efforts to seek help from city and county officials have been unsuccessful.
“Maintaining the cemetery isn’t their responsibility,” Bratton said city and county leaders have told him.
However, Michelle Burleson, a volunteer who helps with maintaining the cemetery, said efforts are limited because there is no active cemetery association.
Burleson says the association was last led by Ollie Giles and the group maintained the cemetery themselves. But after Giles’ death in 2021, the association dissolved. She says she was asked by the City of San Marcos’ Historic Commission to step in to help.
“If someone needed to be buried there, or if they had a question about the cemetery, I would do my best to answer it,” Burleson said.
Burleson says she’s aware of people’s concerns, but believes some of the vandalism could be accidental, coming from work crews still actively working to bury people in the cemetery.
“They bring in this big heavy equipment and then the next thing you know the fence is down or the markers are down,” she said.
Burleson says the county has the funds to mow the grass twice a month, but there isn’t much else to spare.
Under Texas law, cemeteries must be maintained by an association in order to receive funding or grant support.
“You can’t apply for grants if it’s not an association, so that’s why we’re trying to do that so that we can, you know, address the situation,” Burleson said.
Bratton and other families are now working to revive the cemetery association. Until they succeed, they say, maintenance and repair work will continue to fall to volunteers and family members determined to honor their loved ones.