Donnellan Crypt

[From Buffalo Bayou - An Echo of Houston's Wilderness Beginnings]

Just out of view of the thousands who drive daily over Franklin Avenue bridge at Louisiana Street is an intriguing artefact of Houston’s early history. While now empty, the Donnellan crypt was the initial resting place of certain members of the Donnellan family starting in 1849, and continuing until at least 1867. The large red brick outer wall is still visible, as is the single entrance at the bottom right-hand corner of the vault.

Among those members of the Donnellan family buried in the crypt were two brothers who died exploring the wreckage of a Confederate ship that sank, in 1863, at the foot of Travis street. The boys were killed by a bomb that they found among the remains of the ship.

For more information:
Louis F. Aulbach, “The Downtown Crypt,” Buffalo Bayou - An Echo of Houston’s Wilderness Beginnings (2004)
Galveston Daily News, May 30, 1900, at 5 (referencing Donnellan request to remove remains, which may have been desecrated in building of bridge)

~ by Houstorian Tracey on December 20, 2006.