The history of Llano Cemetery is much more than a statistical recording of burials. Though it has a beginning, it will have no ending. For the history of Llano Cemetery is on-going – one generation after another – of families dedicated to the care and preservation of this cemetery.

In 1888 the Morrow family was traveling through this area when their young daughter, Lillian, died. The child was buried on a 20-acre plot of land southeast of Amarillo owned by T.B. and Hattie Clisbee.

Three years later, in 1891, the 20-acre plot was purchased by Potter County from the Clisbees for $400. This plot became known as the Amarillo Cemetery.

Care for the cemetery was provided by a group of dedicated ladies who tended the cemetery as an act of love and community service. They pulled weeds, raked, planted flowers and shrubs and watered the grass. In 1901 these women formed a permanent cemetery association. Funds, used to purchase seed and supplies, were raised by a $1 membership fee and dues of 25 cents per year. For more than 13 years the women who belonged to the association handled the maintenance.

By 1920 the population of Amarillo had grown to 15,494. Amarillo had been transformed from a frontier town into a center for education, business and culture. Saloons, general stores, livery stables and blacksmith shops were replaced by the city’s first hospital, parks, an opera house and a public library. The original 20-acre plot was filled up and more land was needed.

In 1921, a prominent citizen, James Nathan Browning, initiated a movement to incorporate the cemetery as a non-profit association. Judge Browning had served as the first District Attorney of the entire Panhandle. He also had been a member of the Texas Legislature for eight years and had served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas from 1898 to 1902. In addition, he was District Judge from 1906 to 1915.

On Oct. 29, 1921, Judge Browning presided at a public organizational meeting on the cemetery grounds. He drew up the charter and applied to the legislature to form the Llano Cemetery Association.

On Nov. 10, 1921, Judge Browning mailed the official papers to Austin. Later that day he participated in a game of chess at the Elks Club, before returning to his apartment. Sometime in the night, Judge Browning died in his sleep. On Nov. 12, 1921, the Texas Legislature approved the charter for Llano Cemetery Association, the same day on which Judge Browning was buried at Llano Cemetery.

As stated in the application, the first Board of Directors of the cemetery association included: J.N. Browning, W.H. Fuqua, H.P. Canode, J.E. Nunn, George Parr, Cora O. Beverly, Fanny Fern Weymouth, Jennie Stewart and Alice E. Shaughnessy.

A number of family mausoleums were constructed in the 1920s, such as the Henry P. and Mary O. Canode and the John M. Shelton family mausoleum.

One of the larger projects at Llano involved the construction and financing of the Llano Pantheon Mausoleum, which took place during the period 1927 to 1929. The Pantheon was designed by Sidney Lowell, Sr. of Chicago and constructed of Bedford stone, a stone known for its endurance. Local architect Joseph Champ Berry was the project supervisor.

The project involved significant fund-raising and advance sales of rooms and crypts to pioneers, including Col. Herring, Mrs. Oliver-Eakle and Mr. and Mrs. E.W. Hardin. The Great Depression slowed sales and collection of subscriptions. Mr. W.H. Fuqua advanced $62,000 to pay off the balance of the construction contract.
From 1920 to 1930 Amarillo’s population increased 177 per cent, to 43,132. This large increase was due in part to the discovery and development of oil and gas in the Panhandle.

Despite the rapid decline in the local economy during the Depression, the cemetery association was able to make extensive improvements and additions to the cemetery. Beginning in 1933, a project involving construction and landscaping was largely financed by two New Deal programs – the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The RFC was designed primarily to assist credit institutions such as banks, but its funds could also be used to relieve unemployment, as could those of the CCC, which was designed to relieve unemployment.
Amarillo’s RFC committee was headed by James O. Guleke, a prominent attorney. Committee members included Wilbur Hawk of the Globe News, W.H. Fuqua of the First National Bank and Fred DeCoster of the Community Chest. The Llano board was actively involved and included R.P. Masterson, M.C. Nobles, J.O. Guleke, Otis Trulove, W.H. Fuqua, J.E. Nunn, H.P. Canode and George Parr.

The improvements at Llano Cemetery started as a small-scale project, the scope of which broadened quickly as community leaders began to support the initiative and area businesses donated materials, supervisory labor and money.

The RFC project employed 40 men in the first three days. More men were added each week until the project employed 1,200 laborers. RFC paid only wages. Materials, tools and supervisory personnel were donated.

Major C.A. Grover donated his services as general foreman. Mrs. E.W. Hardin chaired the landscaping committee. Planting designs were done at the site by J.O. Guleke, landscaper Albert Bruce and architect Guy Carlander. Albert Randall was the general contractor for the new buildings, which included the Administration building, Superintendent’s cottage and pump house.

D.L. McDonald, of the Amarillo City Water Department, drilled an irrigation well. H.R. Smith and Cecil Boulden, of the City Engineering Department, donated equipment and services to survey the roads and water lines. Plumbing equipment and installation was supplied by Dempster Mill Manufacturing Co., Axtell Co., Morrison Supply Co. and Clowe and Cowan. H.A. Hertner supervised the plumbing work.

Margaret Seewald Roberts created and donated interior art work and carved beams in the Administration building. This included a mural which hangs over the fireplace, depicting the history of the Llano Estacado from the days of the Plains Indians to the 1926 oil boom and the modern technology of the early 1930s.

Two additions have been made to the Llano Pantheon. In 1949 an entrance was added to the building and a four-story tower was constructed on the east side, uniting the old and new wings. In 1961 the association launched another beautification project, with the addition of a new 17-acre plot between the 1933 gate (which is near the Administration building) and 27th Avenue. The Pantheon’s 1964 addition was constructed completely underground. It was designed by Sam McClesky of Atlanta, Georgia. John Hannon was associate architect. Floyd Richards was contractor.

Information for this history was obtained from the Statement of Significance prepared by the Texas Historical Commission as it regards the 52 acres in the Llano Cemetery Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Quoting the ending statement: “Initially a treeless 20-acre rural graveyard with rough native grasses and a formal gridiron plan, the Llano Cemetery doubled in size by the 1930s and became a naturalistic ‘oasis’ defined by curving roads, rustic and revival styles of architecture with imported trees, shrubs and grasses. What was simply a place to bury the dead, became a park as well and thus a living monument to the pioneers of Amarillo.”