Buddy Holly's Resting Place and the Angel Statue Legend
2011 E 31st St, Lubbock, TX 79404
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access during daylight hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved roads with grass plots
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1892 · Buddy Holly Burial Site · First Lubbock Officer Killed In Line Of Duty · Third-Largest Cemetery In Texas
The City of Lubbock Cemetery opened in March 1892 on the eastern edge of what was then a frontier town. The first interment was Henry Jenkins, a Cochran County cowboy who died of pneumonia. Over the following century the grounds expanded to roughly 350 acres and more than 60,000 burials, making Lubbock Cemetery the third-largest in Texas.
The most-visited grave belongs to Charles Hardin Holley, professionally known as Buddy Holly. Holly was born in Lubbock on September 7, 1936, and was killed on February 3, 1959, when a chartered Beechcraft Bonanza crashed shortly after takeoff from Mason City, Iowa. His headstone, etched with his original family spelling 'Holley' and a Stratocaster guitar, sits near the cemetery's western entrance. Fans routinely leave guitar picks, coins, and handwritten notes.
Another grave that draws visitors is that of Lubbock police officer Julio Herrera, the first Lubbock officer killed in the line of duty. Herrera's marker is overlooked by a large carved angel that has become the focal point of local teenage folklore.
The cemetery sits within sight of an abandoned railway trestle locally nicknamed Hell's Gate, a derelict steel span that crosses a low canyon north of the property. The trestle is private railway property and trespassing is prohibited.
Sources
Two distinct folk traditions cluster around Lubbock Cemetery. The first concerns Buddy Holly's grave. Visitors arriving at dusk have reported hearing snatches of guitar music with no audible source, occasionally identified as Holly's own recordings. Local newspapers and Texas Tech student publications have collected such accounts since the 1970s.
The second legend involves the carved angel above Officer Julio Herrera's grave. According to Lubbock teenage tradition, anyone who visits the statue must bow to it or kiss its feet before leaving. Those who do not are said to be followed home by a shadowy figure described as a man in black who refuses to let the visitor leave the cemetery grounds. The legend is widely shared on Texas urban-legend forums but lacks any documented historical anchor; it appears to be a 20th-century campus story.
Down the road from the cemetery, the abandoned railway trestle known as Hell's Gate draws separate paranormal interest. Visitors report shadow figures moving along the trestle deck after dark and floating points of light visible from the canyon floor below. Local television crews have filmed overnight investigations at the trestle, though no documented historical tragedy is attached to the structure.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Walk the 350-acre grounds of Texas's third-largest cemetery, locate Buddy Holly's gravesite (signposted near the cemetery entrance), and find the large angel statue marking the grave of Officer Julio Herrera. Visitors regularly leave guitar picks and coins at Holly's headstone.
View the abandoned railway trestle nicknamed Hell's Gate from a respectful distance off N Quaker Avenue near the cemetery. The trestle is private railway property; do not attempt to climb or trespass.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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