Another Houston-area Black cemetery in danger of destruction

In Northeast Houston, a quiet but urgent battle is unfolding that’s rooted not just in land use, but in memory, dignity, and history.

A Black cemetery, long known to neighborhood residents, is being bulldozed and disturbed. Community members are not opposing development itself; rather, they are drawing a firm line against what they see as the desecration of sacred ground—the final resting place of potentially 30 to 40 souls.

For many, this moment echoes a painful pattern seen across the city and nation. Historic African-American burial grounds, including well-known sites like Olivewood Cemetery, have faced similar threats over time. The current situation, unfolding in what was once Rosewood Estates and is now the Glenwood Manor subdivision, underscores a deeper issue: How Black history is too often buried twice—first in the ground, and then in neglect.

A sacred space remembered

Longtime resident Roscoe Bluiett recalls the cemetery not as a mystery, but as a known and visible part of the community’s landscape.

“It’s an old cemetery… linked to some old Negro slaves that came from Virginia,” Bluiett said, referencing individuals like Emily McDougle and her husband Seal McDougle, whose name still echoes in nearby street memorials.

For Bluiett and others, the cemetery’s presence was never in question.

“These graves have been here ever since I was a kid,” he said. “We grew up in the houses nearby… everybody in the neighborhood knows this is a graveyard.”

He estimates there were once 30 to 40 graves, some with above-ground vaults. Over time, trees and overgrowth obscured parts of the site, but not its identity.

“If they would have walked it, they would have seen these graves,” Bluiett said, pointing out that markers were visible even from the nearby pipelines and railroad tracks.

George Kemp, another longtime resident, shared similar memories.

“Back in 1967-68, we used to come back here and play… we knew there were headstones back here,” he said. “As little kids, we were scared, thinking about ghosts, because it was a gravesite.”

Melvin Watson, a friend and classmate of Bluiett’s at Forest Brook High School, confirmed what Bluiett and Kemp recall.

“We used to play back in these woods when we were young. I know for sure there were cemeteries back here,” said Watson. “Now, they can say they’re not, but we know they are.”

Bulldozers and disbelief

That shared knowledge makes recent developments all the more troubling. Bluiett described the moment he realized the scale of what was happening.

“When I saw they started bulldozing… I wanted to see how much damage they did,” he said. “I found a few grave markers—Emily McDougle was one. Lizzie Smith was another. And the death dates were early 1900s.”

The land, which had previously been unlisted, was later marketed as vacant commercial property. Bluiett believes that the designation ignored the reality on the ground.

“Somebody deemed it as that without even walking it,” he suspects.

Public records show a Notice of Variance issued in July 2022 for the Aroblit Industrial Complex project. Owens Management Systems, LLC filed the request on behalf of the developer. At press time, no responses had been received from the developer or city officials regarding the cemetery concerns.

“I thought it was just going to be a short run… some houses,” Bluiett said. “But they tore all this down… to build a complex.”

A familiar pattern of neglect

For historian and genealogist Debra Blacklock-Sloan, this situation is part of a longstanding and widespread issue.

“African-American cemeteries have always been endangered because of abandonment, encroachment, and urban expansion,” she explained.

As communities shift and development spreads, burial grounds often become isolated or forgotten, especially when no formal maintenance systems exist.

“I don’t want to see them digging those bodies up. Respect those people’s sacred spot, mark it off, fence it off. Then you can use the other portion of the land.”

Roscoe Bluiett

“Lost or abandoned cemeteries happen because there’s no mechanism in place to maintain them regularly,” Blacklock-Sloan said.

She added that, over time, they often become overgrown and effectively erased from public awareness.

Even prominent Black cemeteries in Houston faced similar struggles before community-led preservation efforts took hold. The difference now, she notes, is awareness and residents’ willingness to speak up before it’s too late.

A call for respect and protection

Residents are not calling for development to stop entirely. Instead, they are demanding recognition, protection, and dignity for those buried on the land.

“I don’t want to see them digging those bodies up,” Bluiett said. “Respect those people’s sacred spot, mark it off, fence it off. Then you can use the other portion of the land.

“We’ve got too much technology nowadays not to be able to find some graves. Don’t disrespect those people.”

Blacklock-Sloan echoed that sentiment, framing these cemeteries not simply as burial sites but as cultural archives.

“They are the DNA of our communities,” she said. “The people buried there laid a path for us.”