Columbus: Old City Cemetery

Columbus: Old City Cemetery

  • <p>Archway sign named City Cemetery</p>
  • <p>Flooding caused many old gravestones to dislodge from sandy soil. These have been preserved along a ‘sidewalk’ in the cemetery.</p> <p>Old, broken gravestones laid down along a walkway for preservation. Stones were dislodged from original locations by flooding</p>
  • <p>Headstones along the graveyard ‘sidewalk.’</p> <p>Old, broken tall gravestones lined up along a walkway for preservation. Stones were dislodged from original locations by flooding</p>
  • <p>Journey to Texas, by Detlef Jordt (Dunt), 1833 (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas-Austin)</p> <p>Cover a book written in German. Title translation is “Journey to texas” by Detlef Jordt. Published in Bremen in 1834</p>
  • <p>Schneider Hall</p> <p>Front of wood paneled dance hall building with doors and windows open</p>
  • <p>Inside Schneider Hall</p> <p>Interior of dance hall with wooden floor, and twinkly lights strung across the ceiling beams, and a group of sofas in one corner</p>
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The Columbus City Cemetery is the final resting place for Dorothea Jordt, sons Charles and Karl, and possibly Detlef himself – though he doesn’t have a headstone. The cemetery’s oldest headstone dates to 1853. The “Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery Tour” is held here each fall.

Across town, Schneider Hall, founded in 1931, is a great example of a historic German-Texan dance hall. Today, it serves as a private event venue with a wine bar on the main floor.

Additionally, the Chamber of Commerce sponsors weekly tours of several historic homes in Columbus, some of which belonged to prominent German-Texans.

Old City Cemetery

  • U.S. 90 betweenRampart and Legion Sts., Columbus, TX
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Schneider Hall