A small African-American Cemetery in the midst and underneath commercial development and a subdivision in Spring, Texas tells a tale as old as Texas: Historic black cemeteries get plowed under for new roads and new lands or homes for white folks. Stories like this happened all over the state, and as late as the 1980s.
In 2005, tiny Seal McDougle Cemetery protects the few graves that are not disturbed in what once was a large African American Cemetery in Spring, most of which were paved over in the 1960s.
Irony: The former slave whose name adorns this cemetery is not buried here. His grave probably lies under the road. His tombstone survived the road project by being tossed into nearby woods. So an act of disrespect in the 1960s allowed for some atonement and act of deep respect in 2005.
From the Houston Chronicle: (
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"Cemetery on Cypresswood Drive gets new life
Post Wood MUD funds restoration of historic black burial ground
ANITRA D. BROWN, Chronicle Correspondent Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, June 13, 2006
The Post Wood Municipal Utility District and the Harris County Historical Commission will dedicate the Seal McDougle Memorial Park and Cemetery at 10 a.m. Monday at the park, 23110 Cypresswood Drive.
The site was certified as a historic cemetery by the Texas Historical Commission in 2005.
McDougle was a former slave from North Carolina, who moved to Texas and became a landowner in the area.
The utility district has placed park benches, 21 informational signs and a timeline explaining the history of the land and McDougle's role in that history on the 1/4 acre of land, which was given to the district in 2001.
The improvements were paid for with funds from the tap fees builders pay to the water district, said Post Wood MUD board member Diane Flynn.
It also comes after Flynn, a former teacher, conducted extensive research into McDougle's life.
There were always rumors a tract of land on Cypresswood Drive just north of Treaschwig was a black cemetery, Flynn said. McDougle's headstone was on the property and it was inscribed with two dates — his birth on Dec 26, 1841 and death on Dec. 15, 1913.
"One name and the two dates, that's all I had," Flynn said.
Flynn learned McDougle was a former slave from North Carolina who ended up in Texas. He worked as a sawyer in area sawmills and ultimately owned about 720 acres of land in North Harris County, according to records Flynn said she found.
Before his own death, McDougle likely maintained the cemetery where at least 30 people are buried, Flynn said.
McDougle's gravesite and those of many others are probably underneath Cypresswood Drive, Flynn said. When developers built it in the late 1960s, McDougle's headstone was pushed into a wooded area.
"Yes, it's tragic that most of the graves are under Cypresswood Drive. But you can't undo the past," Flynn said. "But from now on everyone will know, and they hopefully will get the respect they deserve.""