The mission of the Old City Cemetery Center is to advance lifelong learning opportunities about the history, architecture, art, genealogy and folk art customs of the Brownsville Historic City Cemetery and the surrounding Buena Vida Neighborhood through exhibitions, cultural events, and educational programs.

The vision of the Old City Cemetery Center is to serve as a catalyst for community pride and culture for the Buena Vida Neighborhood and City of Brownsville through the improvement and preservation of the Historic City Cemetery. Additionally, the Old City Cemetery Center envisions the Historic City Cemetery as a family friendly park and tourist destination in the heart of the Mitte Cultural District.

The Brownsville Historical Association is committed to the restoration of Historic City Cemetery and through public programming, we encourage the community of Brownsville to embrace the past found within the cemetery's walls.

In conjunction with the Brownsville Public Library, the Old City Cemetery Center is the new home for the Escandon Genealogy Collection.  This collection includes marriage records, cemetery information, and other related research books and files for Brownsville, the state of Texas and the U.S.  In addition, researchers will have access to online genealogy databases such as an ancestry.com.