A work-day was held by members of the community at the South Belton Cemetery Saturday morning. Around 15 volunteers showed up to assist in cleaning up the cemetery and repairing damages done to headstones over the years.

It wasn’t too hot of a day but workers took breaks under the trees and in addition to men there were several women helping with the work. The cemetery is no longer used and over the years the fence and gate have deteriorated to the point that they need to be replaced.  

Not all the graves are marked at the site but the grounds are kept up with the weeds held in check. The Sons of the Confederate Veterans have raised just over $1,000 of the $3,500 needed to fix the fence. The City of Belton is donating a gate to the cemetery.

There are over 35 headstones that need to be repaired.The work was sponsored by 250 Sons of the Confederate Veterans. The historic cemetery has 97 Confederate soldiers, two San Jacinto and veterans and even Revolutionary soldiers buried at the site.

The last working burial was in 1943 at the South Belton Cemetery. Work is being done to create a map where each person is buried. Old maps and layouts of the site are long gone.

Saturday volunteers worked on cleaning damaged headstones that were toppled over. The headstones were being laid flat on the ground and encased in cement in order to preserve the history of the state and of Belton.

There is one Union soldier buried at the site and the last relative to be buried along side another was in 1993.

Donations to assist the restoration project can be sent to the South Belton Cemetery Restoration Fund, City of Belton, P.O. Box 120, Belton, TX. 76513.