17 7 / 2010
McGill Cemetery :: Guadalupe (by chacal la chaise)
McGill sits on about 4 acres of land off Pandora and behind Mt. Baldy in Northeast El Paso. Just over the fence from here is Magoffin Middle School. At one time, McGill was the county’s “pauper” or cemetery for the indigent—a resting place for John and Jane Does.
Latin@ headstones, much like those seen at Concordia Cemetery, fill about half the land on the Magoffin School side. In this area, there is a headstone for a veteran of a foreign war—white clear marble—as seen at Fort Bliss Nation Cemetery.
The other half consists of uniform concrete headstones bearing a person’s name and date of death. However, because many were unknown or indigent, many dates of birth are missing.
The only reason I know about McGill is that a third cousin’s first husband was buried here. Difficult to find, newspaper articles routinely surface about its future because there is no money for maintenance, and the cemetery is full.
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