Bethany Cemetery Association Winter Cleanup

Please join us on Saturday, February 24, 2024 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm as we honor Austin’s ancestral burial grounds with a community-driven cemetery cleanup. Please bring garden tools such as gloves, safety goggles, weed eaters, push lawn mowers, loppers, etc. if you have them (though not required). Donations are welcome! We will be mowing the grass, trimming around the markers and recording damages to stones for future maintenance.

Please park at Sims Elementary School (1203 Springdale Rd, Austin, TX 7872), Ribbecke Avenue, or 12th Street across from the cemetery. The cemetery can only be accessed via a one-way road and is not suitable for parking.

Bethany Cemetery, situated at 1300 Springdale Road in East Austin, was founded in 1893 by C.W. Jones. Bethany served as Austin’s first black cemetery, emerging from the need for a dedicated space after burial space for African Americans in Oakwood Cemetery was no longer available. Learn more about Bethany Cemetery.