The historic Oakwood Cemetery Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) plot reopens on May 14, after a restoration project conducted from October 2023 to April 2025 by the Parks and Recreation Department, TSBVI and Save Austin’s Cemeteries. The reopening celebration happens at 4 p.m., Wednesday, May 14, at Oakwood Cemetery Chapel, 1601 Navasota St.

The restoration project began after the school was contacted by Cemetery Division staff in the fall of 2023 about the plot's condition. TSBVI leadership took an immediate interest in and commitment to funding the plot restoration, and Cemetery Division staff pledged to managing the restoration work.

The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired plot was established in the 1880s and contains tablets of people associated with the school. The last internment at the school's plot happened more than one hundred years ago.

The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired plot restoration project included:

• Disassembling, storing, and cleaning 18 burial tablets and bases in a climate-controlled environment
• Reattaching seven broken tablets
• Creating new cement bases for 13 of the 18 tablets
• Resetting all 18 burial tablets contained in the TSBVI plot
• Cleaning the plot's ground by TSBVI students

"TSBVI has enjoyed collaborating with the City of Austin on renovating our historical lot at the Oakwood Cemetery and we look forward to celebrating the city's work on May 14th," said Emily Coleman, Superintendent, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The collaborative TSBVI project highlights the Department's commitment to preserving Austin's historic cemeteries for future generations. During the past two years, the Cemetery Division has worked directly with more than 350 Austin area families restoring and preserving their lots at Oakwood Cemetery, Oakwood Annex Cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery, Plummers Cemetery, and Austin Memorial Park Cemetery.

Contact Parks and Recreation's Cemetery Division by phone at 512-978-2320 or email if you are interested in the restoration of your family's lots at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery, Oakwood Cemetery, Oakwood Annex Cemetery, and Plummers Cemetery.

About Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) has an array of programs that serve on average 11,000 students who are blind, visually impaired, or deafblind throughout Texas. We work in partnership with schools, families, communities, and organizations. Our goal is to transform educational outcomes for students ages birth to 22. In some cases, we serve as a special public school for students ages 6 through 22 on the TSBVI campus. We also provide support in the form of online courses, consultations, publications, and in-person training throughout Texas, addressing the needs of students who may never travel to Austin. Family education and engagement are at the heart of what we do.

About Save Austin's Cemeteries
Save Austin's Cemeteries is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to preserving historic cemeteries in Austin through documentation, preservation, and education and promoting them as local and state cultural resources.