Location: Rock Island Cemetery—TxGenWeb.”Near Brazos River at Brown College.” --Recorded WASH01—Parsons. Cem Recs of Washington Co. (1974): quoted: “301502 – 960801. Abandoned, densely overgrown cem. near Brazos River at Brown College. Since 1960 some stones have been bulldozed and destroyed to make room for a Negro graveyard. [sic] Approx 14 marked graves, unknown others, earliest dated marker about 1840s. Index.” [SE corner edge of quad, W op CR 113, S of FM 2276. ] Topo Zone map in file.THC site visit MB 4/07/04: Just E of FM 2726 about 0.4 mile. Three way intersection of Rock Island lane, Egypt Lane, Brown College Rd. Small lane runs S past houses and pasture for about 0.8 mile. Rutted two-lane road. Sharp turn to the right is access to cemetery, about 300 ft. Heavy wooded and fenced pasture adjacent to site. Partly fenced, formal site, some informal. Seasonal tall grass, some areas maintained. Evergreen shrubs, Arborvitaes, and some freegrowth Oak and Hackberry, mostly open. Lillies, Irises. Locally caste and standard markers, some tin. A few fenced plots. Some areas more recently maintained. Approx 1.5 acres. GPS 30.14.57.16474N –96.07.57.99503W. Quad 3096-142 [verify]Medium risk of endangerment, growing subdivision development in area, but remote, fenced, seasonal maintenance, still in use, visitation.
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.