Dongvile Cemetery

Visiting

Visitor information	Details
Location	Chili Dog St & E 6th St. The main gate is on Chili Dog St.
Hours	Dawn to dusk, every day
Cemetery line	(936) 555-0116
Office	Parks & Recreation, City Hall, 150 E Brisket St, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Park along the interior drives and keep off the grass. The speed limit inside the cemetery is 10 mph.

View Dongvile Cemetery on the map

History

The first burials took place in 1888, a year after the town was founded, on two acres deeded to the town by the Dongvile & Southern Railway. The cemetery was expanded in 1922, 1961 and 2004 and now covers about 9.5 acres under a canopy of live oaks, with roughly 3,100 interments. The Dongvile Garden Club has helped care for the grounds since 1931 and still tends the flower beds and the oaks.

Section	Opened	Availability
A, Original Section	1888	Closed to new sales
B	1922	Closed to new sales. Resales through the City only.
C	1961	12 full-burial spaces available
D	2004	196 full-burial spaces and 58 cremation garden spaces available

Buying a burial space

When you buy a space, you buy the right of interment, not the land. Spaces are sold at the Parks & Recreation office in City Hall and must be paid in full. Resident rates apply if you live in the city limits, own property in the city, or are buying a space next to an immediate family member already buried here. Spaces may be bought in advance.

Item	Resident	Nonresident
Full burial space	$650	$1,100
Cremation garden space	$300	$500
Infant space	$150	$150
Interment permit, Monday – Friday	$150	$150
Interment permit, Saturday	$250	$250
Monument or marker setting permit	$35	$35
Transfer of interment rights	$50	$50
Replacement certificate of interment rights	$15	$15

Perpetual care is included. One quarter of every space sale goes into the Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund.

Interments

• Your funeral home schedules the interment with Parks & Recreation at least 48 hours ahead and arranges the opening and closing of the grave with a licensed contractor.
• Interments take place Monday through Saturday. Services begin no earlier than 9:00 a.m. and no later than 3:00 p.m. There are no interments on Sundays or City holidays.
• An outer burial container, either a vault or a liner, is required for every full burial.
• Up to two cremation urns may be placed in a full-burial space with an interment permit for each.

Cemetery rules

The City regulates its cemetery under Tex. Health & Safety Code ch. 713 and the City’s Code of Ordinances.

• One upright monument per full-burial space, no taller than 48 inches. Markers must be granite or bronze. Cremation garden spaces take flat markers only.
• A setting permit is required before any monument or marker is installed.
• No fences, curbing, borders, gravel, edging or concrete slabs on any space.
• Do not plant trees or shrubs. The Garden Club plants and maintains all landscaping.
• Fresh-cut flowers are welcome and are removed when they wilt. Artificial flowers must be in a vase attached to the monument.
• Holiday decorations may be placed up to 14 days before a holiday and must be removed within 14 days after it.
• No glass containers and no candles with an open flame.
• Solar lights are permitted. Solar lights that change color are not.
• Wind chimes are limited to one per space, no longer than 18 inches.
• Gravestone rubbings in Section A require permission from Parks & Recreation.
• Pets must be leashed. Metal detecting is not allowed.

Burial records and genealogy

The City keeps interment records from 1911 to the present. Records from 1888 to 1910 were kept by the Garden Club and transcribed in 1976. A bound copy of the transcription is in the Texas history room of the Dongvile Public Library.

To request a records search, email [email protected] or visit the Parks & Recreation office. Include the name and approximate year of death for each person. Searches for up to five names are free, and most are answered within 10 business days. Each record lists the name, date of interment, section and space. Certified copies are requested from the City Secretary under the Public Information Act (Tex. Gov’t Code ch. 552).

Frequently asked questions

Can veterans receive a free marker?

Yes. Families of eligible veterans may request a government headstone or marker from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The City waives the setting permit fee for these markers. Volunteers place flags on veterans’ graves before Memorial Day.

Can I sell a space I no longer need?

Interment rights may only be sold back to the City at the original purchase price or transferred to another person through the Parks & Recreation office for the $50 transfer fee.

How often is the cemetery mowed?

Parks crews mow every two weeks from April through October and as needed in winter. The Garden Club handles the flower beds.

Last updated September 8, 2026