Louise, Wharton County
The town of Louise was platted along the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway in 1892. The population grew, and eventually a cemetery was needed. On June 7, 1897, Trustees for the Louise Graveyard Association acquired five acres for that purpose. W.G. Davis, Oscar Rudin, H.E. Buyers, Henry Oak and J.M. Peterson were appointed as first trustees. The cemetery was utilized by Catholic and Protestant community members alike, with no segregation of burials by race, unlike the common practice of the time. Louise Community Cemetery accommodated at least a dozen victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic in a mass grave in the southeast corner of the cemetery. Longtime Louise resident Antonio Cardenas (1839-1944) was the last person to be interred here. Burials ceased after the opening of the Saint Procopius Parochial Catholic Cemetery in 1950. Notable burials include that of Manuela Candillo Liceaga, early local leader who organized Mexican cultural celebrations and Daniel Henderson, Civil War veteran. Louise Community Cemetery holds a number of children's graves, highlighting the harsh realities of life in the early twentieth century. The earliest marked grave is that of a Mr. Peterson (d. 1895). Headstones of stone, granite, marble and cement can be found here. Earlier wooden headstones may have been lost. Grave adornments include brick and shell ornamentation, and families decorated graves with various plants such as ashe juniper, crinum lilies, gardenias and wild iris. The burial ground is a reminder of the early settlers of the Louise area. Historic Texas Cemetery -- 2021