|
|
|
Tombstone
Detail
TE
Photo March 2007
|
Getting There
To get to Sabine Pass - Direction
At
the main intersection, a small park is to your left (look for the
old lighthouse lantern and watchroom) and the cemetery is about
a quarter of a mile to the right - on the south side of the road.
On the way to the cemetery (also on the south side of the road) you
will see the granite marker erected by the Texas Division of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy to commemorate Dick Dowling's
lopsided defeat of the invading Union gunships in 1863. |
Dick
Dowling Marker near Sabine Pass Cemetery
TE photo, March 2007 |
Sabine Pass
Cemetery Historical Marker
Click on image to enlarge text. TE photo, March 2007 |
According
to the historical marker, the cemetery contains the remains of both
Confederate and (at least two) Union soldiers as well as veterans
of the War of 1812, the War for Texas Independence and the reason
for our visit, the final resting place of Kate
Dorman, the "heroine of Sabine Pass."
The area abounds in wildlife and during our visit Ken Rudine, who
is an avid birder, identified a large flock of white and black Egyptian
Ibis that were wading in large puddles looking for food. |
Sabine Pass
Cemetery scene
(Small
historical marker denotes the Kate
Dorman gravesite)
TE photo, March 2007 |
| The cemetery,
which is still in use, has a deep and wide vacant spot in the middle.
Although there are no tombstones, Mr. Block informed us that an estimated
100-150 people are buried in several mass graves here - hastily dug
during a Yellow Fever epidemic. |
Several mass
graves of Yellow Fever victims appear as an open field.
TE photo, March 2007 |
| Among the Yellow
Fever victims and fallen soldiers, there also the remains of a young
man who died in 1901 as a result of of shooting into a pit of unexploded
ordnance left in an abandoned gun emplacement. His remains were covered
and a cenotaph placed in Port Arthur's Evergreen Cemetery. |
Spanish American
War Marker
TE photo, March 2007
|
Crypts
TE photos, March 2007 |
One of the
many aluminun markers made and installed by W. T. Block for graves
that were in danger of becoming unknown.
TE
Photo, March 2007 |
| While
the cemetery isn't fenced in black iron or rich with funereal statuary,
it's a memorable cemetery to visit for its typical coastal flora and
fauna - and for its somber timelessness. |
| Ken "Mr.
Third Coast" Rudine discussing the cemetery with W.T. "Sir
Cannonball" Block. TE Photo March 2007 |
|
|
