HOME

Welcome to Texas Escapes
A magazine written by Texas

Custom Search

NEW : : TEXAS TOWNS : : GHOST TOWNS : : COUNTIES : : TOPICS : : HISTORY/OPINION : : ARCHITECTURE : : IMAGES : : ARCHIVE : : SITE MAP

Washington County

Texas | Cemeteries

The Chappell Hill Masonic Cemetery
Chappell Hill, Texas

Hwy 290, FM 1155 and 2447
63 miles NW of Houston
98 Miles E of Austin
10 miles E of Brenham

Chappell Hill, Texas Area Hotels > Brenham Hotels

Chappell Hill Masonic Cemetery

A view of the cemetery
TE photo

There are three cemeteries in Chappell Hill, but we are featuring the Masonic cemetery since it contains most of the historic interments and it is the most picturesque. Signage on the main street will direct you to the cemetery which is just NW of town.

There is a marker for Jacob Haller, the cemetery's first interment, but the exact location of his grave is not known. Because of the unusual spelling of Chappell - many of the markers that were engraved out of the region have the standard Chapel spelling.

Jacob Haller of Chappell Hill marker

The Haller Marker
TE photo


The family of Alamo defender Wm. B. Travis is buried in the Chappell Hill cemetery. TE photo	Another marker at the Masonic Cemetery TE photo	The tombstone of Susan Grissett TE photo

In addition to members of the Crockett and Travis clans being buried there, there are a few other things worthy of note:

The misspelling of Chappell Hill is even written in stone. Although members of the Chappell family have their name right, many tombstones are inscribed with Chapel Hill.


L - A grave covered with seashells, TE photo R - Vandalized Tombstone of William Travis' daughter Susan Grissett. It has since been mended Photo circa 1960 courtesy Texas State Library & Archives Commission

There are at least two graves decorated with seashells - a practice that dates to Roman times. In Texas graves decorated in this manner are found in Native American, African-American, Caucasian and Mexican cemeteries. An excellent book with more information on seashell graves and other burial practices is TEXAS GRAVEYARDS by Terry G. Jordan, University of Texas Press.


L- A practical solution to a common problem R - Vandalized headstones have had the pieces kept together by cementing them in place. TE photos

The Masonic Cemetery is an active one and plots are still sold. A clean and well-maintained restroom is available near the northern boundary.

© John Troesser

See Chappell Hill, Texas
More Texas Cemeteries