What makes Olivewood so incredible isn’t how it looks, though the lovely six acres are well maintained. It’s the history behind the place that makes it so special. Originally a slave burial ground, it became the first African-American cemetery in Houston, and it is the final resting place of numerous black pioneers from the 1800s. In 2003, a nonprofit organized to revitalize the location and it is now thriving as a result, having been dedicated as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2010.
This article appears in 2017 Best of Houston.