Round Rock Cemetery

The cemetery never kept burial records, and its ground came in pieces. A 1979 summary by Myreta Matthews for the county historical commission says trustees bought three plots from the J. M. Harrell headright league, for about $81, $18 and $15. Over the years it has been called the Presbyterian, Sam Bass and Old Town cemetery. The brothers Edward and John Hudson, Presbyterian ministers and Civil War chaplains, are buried here, which may account for the first name. The oldest marked grave is Angeline Scott's, who died on July 31, 1851.

What the plaque says

Round Rock Cemetery Established in the early 1850s in what is now known as Old Round Rock, this cemetery is the burial ground of many area pioneers and outstanding Round Rock citizens. The oldest legible tombstone, which marks the burial site of 11-year-old Angeline Scott, bears the year 1851, although there are many unmarked graves that could date from before that time. One-half acre in the northwest part of the 4.5-acre cemetery was used as a burial ground for slaves and freedmen during the nineteenth century. Numerous war veterans are buried here, as is bank robber and outlaw Sam Bass, who died July 21, 1878, two days after being shot by Texas Rangers in Round Rock. Other buried in the cemetery include G. T. Cole, one of the few area eye doctors; Round Rock broom factory owner Sam Landrum; stonemason John H. Gray; Round Rock Presbyterian Church minister John Hudson; and Methodist circuit rider J. W. Ledbetter. One unusual tombstone, which marks the gravesite of Mary Ann Lavender, bears the date February 30, 1870. The Round Rock Cemetery, which contains more than 2,000 graves, is a visible reminder of the early history of this part of Williamson County. The burial ground is cared for by the Round Rock Cemetery Association. (1983)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Round Rock — 0.5 mi
  A table-shaped stone in Brushy Creek gave Round Rock its name in 1854; the Chisholm Trail crossed the creek near it, and Old Town stayed behind when the railroad pulled the town east.
• Inner Space Cavern — 6.3 mi
  A Georgetown cave found in 1963 when highway engineers drilled test holes, holding Pleistocene fossils and 72-degree rooms that visitors reach by an artificial tunnel.
• Williamson County Courthouse — 8.4 mi
  The fifth Williamson County courthouse, a Beaux Arts building by C. H. Page, rises over a Georgetown square of more than 50 Victorian-era buildings.
• Mount Bonnell — 14 mi
  Austin's old lookout over the Colorado, named by an 1838 traveler, picnicked on by George and Libbie Custer, and reached by a 1939 flight of about 100 limestone steps.

More markers nearby

• Slave Burial Ground in Old Round Rock Cemetery — steps away
• Education in Round Rock — 0.4 mi
• The Round Rock — 0.5 mi
• In Memory of The Pioneer Builders — 0.9 mi