In the early 1870's an unknown traveler died at the home of Samuel and Mary Beall, proprietors of a general store in the ranching town of Lagarto. The Bealls buried the man at a site on their property. In 1876, land surrounding the gravesite was formally set aside as the Lagarto Cemetery when Sam and Mary Beall sold two acres of their land to J. W. Ramey, Cornelius Clay Cox, and T. P. McNeill, trustees for the Lagarto Community Cemetery. The grave of the unknown man is identified only by a caliche rock cover, as are two other burial sites in the cemetery. The oldest marked grave, that of two year old Isabel Harrison, is dated October 12, 1876. Others buried here include Charles H. Fusselman (1866-1890), who was shot in Presidio county while serving as a Texas ranger, and John Pollan (1808-1890), who fought in the Texas war for Independence.

Although the population of Lagarto declined after the railroad bypassed it in 1887, its citizens have continued to use the cemetery since the 1870's. Descendants of the town's pioneers still live in the area, which has become the site of development along Lake Corpus Christi.