MCKINNEY, Texas — Florine Henry could go on for days about the people, some of whom were slaves, who are laid to rest at historic Ross Cemetery in McKinney. At least three generations of her family is interred there.
Ross Cemetery was first established in 1895 and it was once called the "Colored People's Cemetery." For a long time, only Black members of the community were buried there. But we've come to learn there are a few non-Black residents buried there as well.
"That was the only place you could get buried if you were African American before 1985," said Baine Brooks, cemetery board member and Allen mayor. "There are some really significant graves there -- really significant," he said.
Last week, the historic cemetery had a milestone of its own. After receiving a state historic designation in 2021, a special medallion has now been placed at the back of the cemetery, detailing its importance in state and Collin County history.
"It means a lot to me. It tells me we've done something for Ross," said Florine Henry.
Henry remembers when Ross was a 'dumping ground' and the weeds "were as tall as you and I." She, along with other select members of the community like Baine Brooks have helped restore Ross.
It's unclear just how many people are buried at Ross Cemetery. Local historian Colin Kimball says it's easily in the thousands. Sadly, over time many of the headstones were lost, broken, or stolen. Henry tells WFAA that many of the markers were wooden and had rotted away over time.
"There's a lot of history-makers here. I used to hate cemeteries, but I love this cemetery," said Kimball, who is with the Collin County Historical Commission.
History-makers like Jake Chamberlin are laid to rest here. He lived in three different centuries from 1798 to 1905. Kimball tells WFAA he was born a slave, emancipated during war, and built the first freedman school.
The Texas Historical Commission designation is a big deal and Henry knows that. It was a long, exhausting process to get that state recognition. She remembers back to when it felt it was just her trying to keep up the grounds of the cemetery. She is thankful for the people who have stepped in lately and saddened by the people who left it in disrepair for so long.
"The HTC designation was developed in 1998 to help protect historic cemeteries by recording cemetery boundaries in county deed records to alert present and future owners of land adjacent to the cemetery of its existence. Every county in Texas has at least one cemetery designated as a Historic Texas Cemetery through this program. The HTC designation is the first step toward preservation of a historic cemetery," read an online excerpt from the State of Texas.
Colin Kimball tells WFAA that there are plans to install a more significant marker with a lengthy narrative attached.
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