Hillcrest Cemetery

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HILLCREST CEMETERY
Hillcrest Cemetery is older than the City of Temple. The grounds have many marked burials that pre-date 1881, when the city began. These 68 acres were once a farmer's field, where citizens in the mid-1870s began a one-room school.

The cemetery evolved nearby when a student, age 17, died in 1877. An estimated 16,000 are buried here. Epitaphs in many languages reflect the increasingly diverse nationalities who settled here - Germans, Czechs, Italians, Hispanics, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Koreans.

By 1884, the cemetery was incorporated, and its name was later formally changed to Temple Cemetery Company. Most citizens preferred to call it "The City Cemetery." As the town grew, so did the cemetery. By March 1921, the cemetery was unofficially renamed "Hillcrest," but the legal name still remains Temple Cemetery Company.

On May 1, 2019, the Temple Cemetery Company transferred ownership, management, and operations to the City of Temple.  The day-to-day business operations and grounds maintenance is managed by the Parks and Recreation Department.

A few of the key gravesites listed on the Hillcrest Cemetery historical walking tour are: 

  • Mary Williams - cemetery's earliest marked grave (1877)
  • W. Goodrich Jones - considered the father of Texas Forestry
  • Raleigh R. White, Jr., M.D./Arthur Carroll Scott Sr., M.D. -  co-founders of Scott & White Memorial Hospital
  • Frank Doering - established the Doering Hotel, renamed the Hawn Hotel
Click here to view the Hillcrest Cemetery brochure (PDF).
Hillcrest Cemetery Plot Search 
Plot Search is temporarily out of service. we apologize for any inconvenience. 

DISCLAIMER:
The Interactive Maps are provided for information purposes only and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, or engineering. or surveying purposes. They do not represent an on-the-ground survey and represent only the approximate relative location of property boundaries and other features.


The Maps are in a constant state of maintenance, correction, and update, using information from a variety of sources. The City of Temple does not guarantee the accuracy of completeness of the maps or the associated data. Map users are responsible for using the information appropriately within the limitations of geospatial data in general and these data in particular. The City makes no warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. 

Newsletter Signup