For families
Plots & niches
Burial spaces in the Casparis sections and niches in our new granite columbarium. Open to everyone — you do not need to be a Mason, a church member, or a resident.
Johnson City · Blanco County · Texas
The Johnson City Masonic Cemetery
Established 1892 on land bought from the widow of the town's founder. A Historic Texas Cemetery, cared for by the brethren of Johnson City Lodge No. 561 for more than 130 years — and open to all.
For visitors & researchers
Find a grave
More than 1,500 people from the 1880s onward, in the lodge's own record. Search by name, find the plot, and see the plat.
For the community
Help keep it
The Cemetery Association mows, trims, and repairs with volunteer labor and gifts. There is no endowment. Your contribution is what keeps the grass cut.
About the cemetery
A place of quiet remembrance
In December 1892, ten years after their lodge was chartered, the Masons of Johnson City sent three of their number — Joseph Bird, W. H. Withers, and G. M. Nash — to find and buy a burying ground for the town. They purchased it from Julia Ann Moore Johnson, widow of James Polk Johnson, the man who had laid out Johnson City on his own land a few years before. A surveyor's plat of blocks and lots followed in 1894, and the first of the county's founding generation were laid to rest here before the decade was out.
The cemetery has grown from that original tract to ten and a half acres in three sections, thanks to the Casparis family's gift and the lodge's later purchase. It holds pioneers, county officials, physicians, ranchers, and veterans of every American conflict from the War of 1812 to Vietnam — including Cicero Rufus Perry, the Texas Ranger whose grave is a stop for anyone tracing the history of the frontier. The Texas Historical Commission designated it a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2002.
It was established, in the plain words of the lodge's own record, “simply to provide the citizens of the town a place to inter their dead. There are no restrictions as to church membership, lodge membership, family relationships.” That is still true.
New in 2026
A columbarium for the Hill Country
More than half of Texas families now choose cremation. Until now, that meant leaving Johnson City to find a dignified resting place. Our granite columbarium, fabricated by Tri-County Monuments of Blanco, offers single and companion niches with engraved granite covers, memorial benches, and the same permanence the old section has had since 1892.
Columbarium
The granite columbarium and memorial benches at the Johnson City Masonic Cemetery.
From the historical marker
As the marker reads
In 1892, local masons Joseph Bird, W. H. Withers, and G. M. Nash, on behalf of Johnson City Masonic Lodge No. 561, purchased land at this site from Julia Ann Moore Johnson, widow of town founder James Polk Johnson. Early marked graves date from the 1890s and include many community leaders, as well as veterans of military conflicts from the War of 1812 to Vietnam. Also interred here is the celebrated Texas Ranger Cicero Rufus Perry (d. 1898). With over 250 graves, the historic Johnson City Masonic Cemetery is an important reminder of early settlers.
— Historic Texas Cemetery, 2002
Visiting
Open daily, dawn to dusk
The cemetery is on Nugent Avenue (Spur 356) on the north side of Johnson City, beside the Little League fields. There is no gate fee and no appointment needed. Please drive slowly on the gravel lanes, keep to the roads, and leave the grounds as you found them.
Save the date
Wreaths Across America — December 19, 2026
Volunteers will lay wreaths on the graves of the veterans who rest here on National Wreaths Across America Day. Sponsor a wreath, or come and help place them. Details are on the Association page as the date approaches.