Ruiz developed a plan for the Paco Cemetery, while Don Jose Coll served as supervisor of the construction work. The cemetery was primarily designed as a municipal cemetery for the affluent and established aristocratic Spanish families who resided in the old Manila, or the city within the walls of Intramuros during the Spanish colonial era. It was on April 22, 1822, when the cemetery was officially inaugurated, although it had been in use for two years prior to its completion.

In 1859, Governor Fernándo Norzagaray y Escudero