Newgulf Campo Santo

Newgulf Campo Santo. . , The Texas Gulf Sulfur Company began mining operations in Wharton County in 1927. The town which developed around the mine came to be known as New Gulf (or Newgulf), distinguishing it from the company's mine already in operation at Gulf in Matagorda County, which was afterwards referred to as “Old Gulf.” The New Gulf mine made its first shipment in 1929 and was eventually recognized as the largest sulfur-producing mine in the world. The company town of NewGulf had as many as 1,500 residents and was segregated along racial and ethnic lines, with Anglo, Hispanic and African-American housing and other separate facilities including schools, stores, scout troops and fishing piers at the company reservoir., The company provided a one-acre plot on a gravel road to serve as a Mexican-American cemetery known as “Campo Santo.” According to county records, family documents and oral histories, 118 individuals of Mexican descent are interred here. The first burial was for two-day-old Ismael Ramirez in March 1927. A number of graves were marked only by funeral homes’ temporary medical stakes, long-since eroded. There was no formal layout, but eventually eleven rows of graves materialized. There has never been a formal cemetery association. Rather, individual residents and family members have always assumed responsibility for grounds maintenance. At times threatened by long-term neglect and proposed redevelopment, since 2007 Campo Santo has been lovingly restored by a group of descendants and former residents. Campo Santo continues as a proud and beloved icon of family and cultural heritage. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2019 .