Soon after Friedrich Ernst and Charles Fordtran came in 1831 to the western side of Stephen F. Austin's grant, in what is now Austin County, Industry became the first permanent German settlement in Texas. Following the Gotier Trace, many travelers passed through Industry on their way farther west, while many others settled there. The burial ground later known as Industry Pilgrims Rest Cemetery was used long before April 26, 1873, when Wilhelmine Schroeder, daughter of Friedrich Ernst, sold acreage to the trustees of the mutual cemetery graveyard for a community cemetery, and pioneers who died while passing through Industry on their way west were likely buried there in unmarked graves. The oldest marked grave is that of Max Schmidt from 1853. Many German settlers of the area are buried there, including Friedrich Ernst's wife and multiple members of the family. The tombstone of Louise Ernst Stoehr, married to Ernst until his death in 1848, calls her "The First German Settler in Texas. 1800-1889," and Wilhelmine Schroeder's tombstone uses similar language. Cemetery records also show the burials of veterans, including Jacob Wolters, an Austin colonist and a Republic of Texas and Confederate soldier. Along the south property line lies the adjacent cemetery of the United Methodist Church. A perpetual care fund was established in 1960, the Industry Pilgrims Rest Cemetery Association formed in 1964, and additional land was acquired in 1985 and 1990 for expansion. Though small, Industry played an important role in the settlement of Texas, reflected in the burials there.