DALLAS — Descendants of people buried at the White Rock Cemetery Garden of Memories and advocates have long sought safeguards to preserve the legacies of their ancestors amid increased development in the North Dallas area where the cemetery is located.
On Monday, Dallas’ Landmark Commission, a 15-member quasi-judicial body tasked with reviewing applications for new historical landmarks, voted unanimously to designate the more than 170-year-old Black cemetery as a historical site.
It will go before the City Plan Commission and City Council for approval next. The cemetery already has a state historical marker. If approved, the city's designation would add more protections from future development.
Among those buried in the cemetery is Anderson Bonner, who was born into enslavement and amassed about 2,000 acres of land to become one of the biggest landowners in Dallas by the turn of the 19th century.
Preservation Dallas board member Sheniqua Cummings helped lead the effort to designate the cemetery as a historic site.
“The White Rock Cemetery Garden of Memories is important to me because not only am I an advocate of the preservation of African American history and culture, but I am a descendant of pioneers who were buried there and who lived in what was once a freedman’s town called Upper White Rock,” said Cummings. “This cemetery is important and it is a historical asset not only to the African American community of Dallas, but to Dallas history as a whole, and this is why we’re seeking a landmark designation to preserve the legacy and the history of these families and the cemetery.”
Dallas city council member Jaynie Schultz, whose district includes the cemetery, praised the effort.
“This is a moment in Dallas history; it’s an unknown part of Dallas history,” Schultz said.
Her district office will host an African American history exhibition at the Prism Center showcasing the Black history of North Dallas.
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