Historic Houston-area cemetery languishes underwater
Community group aims to save resting place of forebears.
Beneath mud and at least a foot of water, the headstones of former slaves, Native Americans, veterans, law enforcement officials and original settlers of the Tamina community peeked through the surface of the now-submerged Sweet Rest Cemetery on a recent Saturday morning.
“It literally brings tears to my eyes to see this condition in 2018 as if it was 1918,” said 52-year-old Tamina resident Elijah Easley as he waded through the cold, murky water and growth where his father, mother, maternal grandparents and great-grandparents were laid to rest.
Easley’s family is among an estimated 261 buried in graves now covered in water.
The gravesites date back to 1870 and include those of Tamina’s founding fathers, such as Easley’s grandfather, Romie Hollins Sr., whose names can be found on street signs of the post-Civil War Freedman’s settlement. Tamina’s history can be traced back to R.B. Smith, an educator from the city of Montgomery; John Nilor, a Houston-area businessman; and to freed slaves who moved to the area in 1871 helped build the railroad.
For the past 10 years, the roughly 12-acre cemetery, which does not have an owner, has been left dormant and exposed to the elements without a caretaker aside from the occasional volunteers who try to help. Some of the graves are inaccessible due to the standing water and grassy growth, which Easley believes might be because the natural water flow has been blocked on various sides.
Due to the poor condition of the cemetery, no one has been laid to rest there for nearly a decade.
Easley is the board chairman of a new nonprofit called the Tamina Cemetery Project Community Development Corp., which is made up of descendants of Tamina’s forefathers, churches, community members and others.
“We have (descendants) of forefathers that are here in this community some 90, almost 100 years old that would have a desire to be buried here, but they can’t be because of these current conditions,” Easley said. “If we can get that corrected, I have an uncle (Romie Hollins Jr.) who’s 88 years old whose father is one of the founding fathers of this community, the Hollins family. I know if my uncle was given the opportunity, he would care to be buried there.”
The 501(c)3 nonprofit is on a mission to collaborate with elected officials, community leaders and others to fix the drainage issue.
“It’s about honoring our ancestors,” said board treasurer Victor Harris, 34. “It’s about honoring our legacy.”
Community leaders believe drainage and environmental issues are contributing to the flooding in the cemetery, which still has not recovered from the rainfall during Hurricane Harvey in late August.
Easley and board members are asking for support, including from the county.
“This is our start,” said Vanesta Davis, 55, an advisory board member. “First, last and everything. We want to pass this on to future generations. We want this to be something to be proud of, not to have this go on and keep repeating itself.”