Location: Groce Road Cemtery, unknown. AAAKA City Cemetery, AATHC site visit 5/15/04 Hempstead, Tx. End of Groce Rd, SE of downtown. AA: S of Hempstead , S of SH 159 S of Old Houston Hwy on Grace Rd, end of road. Adjacent to wooded area, pasture area, near other cemeteries, residential area. Large formal site, fenced, maintained. Diversity of formal markers over time, some locally caste. Newer and older sections, gravesites in areas throughout the acreage, some with large marker trees. Gravel access road to back. Abundant floral and decorative grave materials. Some Gardenia marker shrubs, Cedar and Pecan marker trees. Abundant floral grave materials. Hempstead African American Cemetery?? Unknown name, USGS map—[S of Hempstead, W of contour 235 ??]—S-SW of Hempstead area Adjacent to Houston Cem, S of Hempstead City (white) Cem.Approx 8.83 acres. GPS 30.04.44.67619N –96.04.05.02723W. Quad 3096-111.Low risk of endangerment. Fenced, maintained, still in use, part of municipal cemetery areas.
To address the problem of cemetery destruction and to record as many cemeteries as possible, the
Texas Historical Commission offers the Historic Texas Cemetery designation.
The Historic
Texas Cemetery 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.
A cemetery is eligible for designation if it is at least 50 years old and is deemed worthy of recognition
for its historical associations. The very nature of a cemetery being a landmark of a family’s or community’s
presence is considered to validate the criteria of historical associations. Any individual, organization, or
agency may submit a request for designation.