On the north bank of Oyster Creek in a modern neighborhood sits a tranquil cemetery that is as strong an emblem of old Sugar Land as the Char House, or the Sugar Land Auditorium. San Isidro Cemetery is celebrating its centennial this year, and the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation, the City of Sugar Land, other local organizations, and families with deep roots in Sugar Land’s past will join in this celebration with a Dia de los Muertos exhibit at the Sugar Land Heritage Museum & Visitors Center October 22nd through November 3rd.
On Saturday, October 27th, the museum will host a half-day event which will include music, refreshments, presentations, and other elements to explore our communal past. The museum exhibit will comprise personalized altars created by local families to honor their loved ones and commemorate their lives in old Sugar Land. Visitors will learn about our town’s rich historical legacy in a personalized and unique way.
The Dia de los Muertos exhibit will explain the significance of All Saints Day in Hispanic cultures across North and Central America. Following long-standing tradition, families return to the burial sites of their beloved ancestors, attend to maintenance of their resting places, construct personalized altars to honor their memories, and conclude with a celebration of thanksgiving for the blessings from the past.
San Isidore (1070-1130) is the patron saint of farmers and farm laborers. He was renowned for his pious care for animals and the poor near his hometown of Madrid, Spain. The cemetery’s name is fitting because Sugarland Industries provided the land it sits on for immigrants from Mexico to bury their loved ones in local graves, since in almost all cases they lacked the means to bury relatives in distant Mexico. The cemetery became the resting place of many people who worked for Imperial Sugar Company and, eventually, other enterprises.
In former times, it was well-known as a bucolic, serene location, surrounded by pastureland to the north and corn and cotton fields on the south bank of Oyster Creek. Tall pecan trees shaded the cemetery and adjoining area. A wooden bridge with no rails provided access from the south side of the creek. It is located in present-day’s Sugar Creek subdivision between Sugar Creek Boulevard and Oyster Creek. Find A Grave web site indicates there are 690 known burials with the earliest dating from 1920.
Carmen Flores Perez has extensive ties to the cemetery. Multiple generations of her family and her in-laws are buried there. “There is one family with 6 generations buried in San Isidro. I don’t know how many times I’ve met people from other coastal towns, and when I told them I’m from Sugar Land, they tell me they have relatives buried in San Isidro. Connections to this cemetery are deep and wide.”
San Isidro Cemetery is in many ways an island preserving our past in a sprawling modern city. We want to celebrate these unique elements in our town’s history and encourage today’s citizens to learn more about them