A proposal to put a parking lot near Olivewood Cemetery, Houston’s oldest African-American cemetery, has been denied.

Beneath the Houston skyline is a portal into the past.

Olivewood is along I-10, an interstate that runs from Florida to California and right through downtown Houston, and sits right on the banks of White Oak Bayou. It’s hidden by a swath of trees, so you’d never notice it was there from the freeway, and once you’re on city streets, it’s set back behind a medical building.

HOUSTON – The Descendants of Olivewood have been tasked with preserving the cemetery and all it’s rich history, but are in need of the community’s help due to the erosion that has damaged the hollow grounds. They are in need of donations and volunteers to keep the 6-acre cemetery and historic resting place for many freed slaves and some of Houston’s earliest black residents going. In 1875, this land was used for slave burials and became an official cemetery in 1877 for black Methodists. It was the first African American burial ground within the city limits of Houston. If you would like to help the Descendants of Olivewood protect the significance of the cemetery, click here to find out how.