Rocky Hollow Cemetery
Andice, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the 1850s, a group of pioneer Black slaves came to this area from Union County, Arkansas, and founded what is now known as the Rocky Hollow Community. This cemetery soon was established on land given by Thomas P. Chapman. Although it was used before the Civil War began, the first marked grave, that of Confederate veteran William Bacon Tucker, is dated 1865. Known in earlier times as Bullion and as Little Arkansas, Rocky Hollow Cemetery continues to be maintained by descendants of the community's founders and of many ex-slaves. (1984)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the 1850s a group of enslaved Black people brought from Union County, Arkansas, put down roots here and founded what became the Rocky Hollow Community, known in earlier days as Bullion and Little Arkansas. A cemetery soon rose on land given by Thomas P. Chapman, its oldest marked grave dated 1865. Descendants of the founders and of formerly enslaved families have tended the burial ground ever since.
Why it matters
Rocky Hollow preserves the memory of an African American community that grew from slavery into freedom and has maintained its own sacred ground across generations.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Thomas P. Chapman
- · William Bacon Tucker
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Harrell Cemetery
Round Rock, TX
Jacob and Mary Harrell came to Texas with Robertson's colony in 1833 and were among the first to settle the site that became Austin, where Jacob sold his homestead for the grounds of the State Capitol and served as mayor in 1847. In 1848 the family moved to Jacob's headright near this spot, helping organize the new Williamson County government. The cemetery holds Harrell family members and one of the family's enslaved people.
Moore-Hancock Farmstead
Austin, TX
Around 1850 the Irish-born merchant Martin Moore and his wife Elizabeth left their Austin business for a 521-acre farm north of town, raising five children in the log structures they built here. After Martin's death, Elizabeth sold the homestead in 1866 to Judge John Hancock, and it is believed his formerly enslaved man Orange and family lived on the land in the late 1860s. The sensitively restored cabins survive as a rare example of local pioneer farmstead architecture.
"Dog Run" Log Cabin
Liberty Hill, TX
William Williams, a settler from Arkansas, raised this cabin in 1851 from hand-cut cypress, oak, cedar, and stone, joining the logs with wooden pegs. Its two solid rooms are separated by an open central passage—the classic 'dog run' or dogtrot that let Texas breezes cool a frontier home. An Arkansas family named Buck owned it for more than half a century, and it was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1968.
Williams-Buck Cemetery
Liberty Hill, TX
Legend clings to the earliest years of this hilltop burial ground, where oral history places the graves of an enslaved man, an unknown Native American, and a settler family said to have been ambushed and buried in their own wagon in 1854. The oldest marked grave is that of infant Polly Williams, interred that same year on land owned by W. W. Williams. Honored veterans of both Confederate and U.S. forces lie here, along with graves relocated when Lake Georgetown was formed.