City Seeks Owners of Plots at Historic Arlington Cemetery

The City is working to determine whether approximately 1,100 empty burial plots at the Arlington Cemetery on Mary Street are owned or if they can be made available to the public for purchase starting this fall.

Thirty years ago, the City took ownership of the 10-acre cemetery site in Downtown and has maintained it ever since. In 2023, a state law revision allowed for cities to sell cemetery plots  if they had owned and maintained the cemetery for at least 25 years and if all of the plots to be sold had been declared to be abandoned through a public hearing process.

Arlington Cemetery has graves dating back to the 1870s. The City, which received only partial records about burial plots when it took over the site, has since identified more than 1,600 marked graves and more than 2,100 empty graves. Those located within family plots or that have obstructions will not be sold.

From now until Aug. 31, 2025, the City is conducting community outreach to verify ownership of burial plots at Arlington Cemetery. Residents who have documentation that they own empty plots are asked to submit contact information and documentation through the online Arlington Cemetery Burial Rights and Ownership Documentation Submission form available at www.arlingtontx.gov/cemetery.