Cemeteries are often overlooked as cultural landscapes, yet they hold powerful stories about a city’s past and its people. Founded in 1839, Oakwood Cemetery was Austin’s first municipal cemetery and is the resting place of many who shaped the city’s history—from its founders to those who physically built it.
This tour highlights how community advocacy and municipal leadership have transformed Oakwood into a site of historic and cultural interpretation. Beginning with the work of the friends group Save Austin’s Cemeteries, participants will learn how grassroots advocacy inspired the City of Austin to develop a robust vision for cemetery stewardship and interpretation.
Stops along the tour will illuminate key milestones, including the award-winning Cemetery Vision Plan, the renovation of Oakwood Chapel, and the unexpected discovery of 37 burials beneath its foundations—a moment that reshaped community dialogue about memory, identity, and inclusion in Austin’s history.
Guides will include Kim McKnight, who led development of the Cemetery Vision Plan; artist and cultural producer Jennifer Chenoweth, who now programs the Oakwood Chapel; preservationist Ryan Dees, who will discuss balancing restoration with limited resources; and representatives from Save Austin’s Cemeteries, who continue to champion awareness of Austin’s burial grounds.
