Slave Burial Ground in Old Round Rock Cemetery
Round Rock, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Near the gravesite of outlaw Sam Bass, one-half acre of Old Round Rock Cemetery was set aside for slave burials. Enclosed by cedar posts and barbed wire, sites are marked head and foot with large limestone rocks. Some rocks are hand-grooved with names and dates. White graves here are dated as early as 1851. The first marked grave of a freed slave is dated 1880. Although there are 40 to 50 known burial sites of freedmen and the burial ground is still in use, no interments of former slaves occurred after the turn of the century.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In a corner of Old Round Rock Cemetery, near the grave of outlaw Sam Bass, half an acre was set aside for the burial of enslaved people and, later, freedmen. Enclosed by cedar posts and barbed wire, the graves are marked at head and foot with limestone rocks, some hand-grooved with names and dates. The earliest known grave of a freed slave dates to 1880, and although dozens of freedmen rest here, no former slaves were interred after the turn of the century.
Why it matters
Segregated in death as in life, burial grounds like this are among the few surviving physical records of enslaved and newly freed African Americans, preserving names that official histories rarely bothered to keep.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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