Oakland Cemetery, Dallas, Texas: Sections 4, 14, 15, 44, and Pires Circle

by Barbara A. Ware, Suzan Younger and Carole Ruska

For several years a number of Citizens of Dallas have realized the urgent necessity of providing, without delay, a spot convenient and outside the corporate limits, in every respect suitable for a first-class cemetery, to be designed and laid off by a thoroughly competent cemetery engineer in the most modern style, and in accordance with the best idea of what a rural or lawn park cemetery should be – a hallowed and sacred spot that would prove a credit to the promoters, and to the good people of Dallas for generations to come.¹

Oakland Cemetery opened in 1892. And yet there are death dates that precede that year. These are re-interments from other cemeteries. Although the original plan called for a very large cemetery, today the smaller cemetery has 40 sections. A map of the cemetery is found on page 66. Some section numbers are repeated in different areas of the cemetery. Some sections contain lots, some contain tiers (rows) and some contain both lots and tiers. Each lot generally is divided into 12 plots, usually two rows of six graves each. Tiers have no standard number of graves.

Section Four of Oakland Cemetery has over 1,100 burials. Among those are two mayors, Frank P. Holland (1895-1897) and William M. Holland (1911-1915); George Clapp Greer, one-term state senator and attorney for Magnolia Petroleum Company (later called Mobil Oil Company); and George W. Ware, the founder of Practical Drawing.

Sections 14 and 15 are the circles near Section 4. Section 14 is divided into six pie-shaped pieces with three rows in each piece. Section 15 is divided into five pie-shaped pieces with three or four rows each.

Section 44 is located at the front on the left side of the cemetery. Tiers 1 to 17 have about 44 graves. Tiers 16 to 18, begin at grave number 21 due to the shape of the cemetery.

Section 44 is located at the front on the left side of the cemetery. Tiers 1 to 17 have about 44 graves. Tiers 16 to 18, begin at grave number 21 due to the shape of the cemetery.

The Pires Circle is actually a triangular shaped space near Sections 2 and 3. The large monument there was placed in honor of Louis Antonio Pires. After his death, Pires’ estate was valued at $1.8 million. Large bequests were given to Southern Methodist University, Buckner’s Orphans’ Home, St. Paul Sanitarium, and the Masonic bodies. The Pires monument is a large columned structure with a domed top built by the architectural firm of Greene, La Roche & Dahl.

Notes

1. Dallas City Directory, Morrison and Fourmy, 1891, pg 27.