Katy Heritage Society Works for Historic Landmark Recognition for Local Cemetery
Katy is rich with history, including local cemetaries
Just North of I-10, lies an unpretentious cemetery. The modest plot of land
 was originally owned by Adam Stockdick who donated it  in 1915 to the Colored Baptist church — now called Antioch Baptist Church. It contains the graves of some of Katy’s early settlers, several farm workers, war veterans, and workers for the MKT Railroad.
Katy Community Cemetery (KCC) is located on Stockdick Road, between F.M. 1463 and Danover Street. It is fenced in on three sides and neatly maintained by the church. Antioch Baptist church members have done a great deal of work on determining where many of the grave sites are and identifying several of the people known to be buried there. A list of names has been compiled, but the names on the graves don’t always match the list. Some of the recorded names and some of the unmarked graves have not been located so far. Moreover, some of the names on the graves are not on the list.
Katy Heritage Society has taken on the task of filling out the stacks of paper necessary to have this historically significant site recognized by the State of Texas. According to Carol Eckels Adams, Executive Director for the Katy Heritage Society, both the Heritage Society and the Antioch Baptist Church need funds to help maintain this non-profit cemetery as well as for continuing the landmark recognition process.
Katy has another cemetery — Magnolia Cemetery — on Franz Road near Bartlett Street. It also has historically significant graves, including Katy founding fathers and a few Civil War veterans.
“Magnolia Cemetery has been around since the very early 1900’s and has graves from our early settlers, including some that have roads named for them,” says Eckels Adams. She goes on to note that Magnolia Cemetery is a for-profit facility, as opposed to Katy Community Cemetery which is a non-profit cemetery owned by a church. At this time Magnolia is not in the process of being recognized as an historic landmark. Both Katy Community and Magnolia continue to serve as operating cemeteries and have space available for new graves.
For the Katy Community Cemetery Fund, contributions may be sent to PO Box 359, Katy, TX 77492. To help with cemetery care and landscaping , paperwork, or any other volunteer work, contact the Katy Heritage Society at Katy Heritage Park, 5990 George Bush Drive, P.O. Box 359, Katy, TX 77492-0359, or call 281-391-2550.
