Friends of Fairmount

Friends of Fairmount (FOF) was established in 2005 as a Texas non-profit auxiliary group supported by over 400 community members to help assure the long-term health of San Angelo's 133-year-old Fairmount Cemetery. The Fairmount City Cemetery Board (FCB) oversees the cemetery's operations and maintenance and the city-employed cemetery staff.  

Friends of Fairmount organizes activities and promotes contributions to the cemetery's restoration, preservation, conservation efforts, maintenance, and safekeeping.  They also create and support interpretive and educational programs, including topics emphasizing the local and national historical significance of the Fairmount Cemetery to the early settlement of Tom Green County and the State of Texas.  They cooperate with other organizations and individuals interested in the historical heritage of Texas, particularly the historical heritage of Fairmount Cemetery.

Friends of Fairmount has many programs and projects already established that promote and enhance the cemetery and our community, such as placing flags and hosting a Veteran's Day ceremony, placing memorial wreaths at Christmas, and organizing a Soul Stroll in the cemetery in the Fall along with stones and Bones: Where History is Buried in the Spring.  

Stones and Bones: Where History is Buried - - the organization's educational offering to local elementary age students, was developed by The Friends of Fairmount in 2011. The goal is to introduce SAISD 5th grade students to the wealth of history, culture, and memory captured within the boundaries of Fairmount Cemetery. They explore local, state, regional, and national history using a historic community resource and artistic responses. At Fairmount Cemetery, history "comes alive" as students study famous men and women who once lived or are buried in San Angelo, Texas. Stones and Bones is a two-day program with a 5th grade TEKS-friendly curriculum that can be integrated into the days preceding the presentation and field trip. Day one is held at the school. FOF volunteers introduce 5th grade students to Fairmount Cemetery in an hour-long presentation. Listening activities and a slide show presentation of the history of memorialization, famous and infamous citizens of San Angelo, types of grave markers, the meaning of symbolism or words found on markers, and cemetery etiquette. The basic photography skills of framing a subject, focusing, lighting, and operating the camera are taught.