Oakland Cemetery

"A beautiful sprawling, very historical cemetery with easy to access thru the main gate area located off of S. Malcolm X Blvd. One of the largest, most striking historical cemeteries in Dallas, with hundreds of burials marked by a dizzying array of stones, obelisks, and other features. Oakland Cemetery holds a number of important citizens of early Texas, Dallas and surrounding areas including their families."

"My first visit was April 2022. The volunteers have done an extraordinary job of reclaiming this cemetery from the wilderness that was overtaking it. Along with the uptown cemeteries it is a wonderful place to connect with the history of Dallas."

"I always enjoy visiting old cemeteries and this one did not disappoint. Oakland Cemetery has many graves of historical figures and and those who helped build Dallas. If you have time to kill I certainly recommend making a stop. My only complaint is that the upkeep and maintenance is terrible. It's fun and different to explore, but if I had loved ones buried here I wouldn't be so happy."

"It is mostly well kept, but there are a few areas where graves are completely lost to shrubbery. It is a HUGE cemetery, very spacious and green. Some of the areas had paved walkways while others had dirt paths. Unless the cemetery keeper just hangs out in areas in his car there was definitely a drug deal going on when I went..."

"If I could give it zero stars I would do so. We visited today to locate graves from my wife's side of the family. She had attended a funeral years ago there and had a vague idea of where to look. While walking through the graves at the front of the cemetery, we found many broken headstones, and a general lack of maintenance in some of the sections. We finally located the graves we were seeking but only because the family section has a large standing marker with the family name on it. It is being overgrown by a mulberry tree. There were no visible markers for the individual graves. After looking carefully in the grass, my wife spotted the corner of a headstone. Several minutes of digging revealed the name of a great uncle, one of the family members we were seeking. We began to probe around and found a second stone completely buried under approximately 4 inches of soil, tree roots and leaf litter. This led us to 3 more which were buried under up to 6 inches of soil. Since we did not have digging tools, we were having to do this with sticks and out hands. We gave up for the day but were disturbed by what we found. The stones we located do not appear to original to the graves but appear to be replacements. They were flat stones much like one would see in any modern cemetery but some were dated as being from 1919 and 1920, yet matched stones from the 1970's. We do not know who might have done this or why this would have ever been authorized. The fact that they were buried says a lot about the level of care at the cemetery. After we gave up digging with our hands, we drove through the cemetery and found sections that look like they have had no maintenance whatsoever for years. Further, we found a tomb (mausoleum) for a J.C.Looper that has become a garbage dump for whomever is supposed to be cleaning the cemetery. Trash, broken tools, and piles of dirt were piled against it in a completely disgraceful and disrespectful way. This tomb is at the back of the property in a section where maintenance is much more lax, presumably because it is out of sight from the street. There has been a lot of money donated for the upkeep of this cemetery and there is a sign soliciting donations as well as a page on their website. I think it is time for a serious investigation into the handling of the finances of this cemetery."