"[The apartments] were built in '79, and the cemetery is there in the middle because when the family sold the property, [it was in] the condition for [developers] to build around it," said Olivia Bartlett, a spokeswoman for Lakewood Apartment Complex. "It is fenced in and locked at all times."

Behind the complex's pool, the Kohrmann Family Cemetery, located at 11000 Gatesden Drive, houses the tombs of 16 early residents, including Paul Kohrmann and his wife, Agnes Othila Tautenhahn who died in 1894 and 1932, respectively. The cemetery also includes the gravesites of many other descendants who died in the early 20th century.

The cemetery was once part of the estimated 19-acre tract where Kohrmann and his family established their homestead. When family members sold the property in the late 1970s, they requested the cemetery be left untouched and asked the owners of the newly constructed apartment complex to maintain the site.

Kohrmann and Tautenhahn arrived in the modern-day Tomball area in 1870 from Baden, Germany, along with Kohrmann's two sisters who were in their early 20s, according to historical accounts provided by the Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner's office. At the time, the area was known as Pillotville and named after Eugene Pillot and his son Nick, who helped operate the nearby Louetta sawmill in the 1860s.

The Kohrmann family owned and operated the town's general store and post office from 1881 until 1911 when mail delivery began from nearby community Hufsmith. Because of Kohrmann's postmaster position, the Pillotville community became known as Kohrville in the early 1870s and served as a haven for German families that fled military service in Germany during World War II.

Similar to other communities of its time, the general store served as Kohrville's social center and gathering place for residents. By the 1890s, immigrants from Prussia, Denmark, Ireland and England began populating the area along with a large group of African-Americans from Piney Point, located west of modern-day Memorial Park.

Many Kohrville residents cut timber for the Louetta sawmill, and the community had multiple schools, churches and a cotton gin, according to the Harris County Historical Commission. In the early 1900s, historical accounts estimate the population was about 50, and there were more than 30 students allotted to one teacher at the local school in 1906. By 1940, the population totaled about 30 residents.

With efforts spearheaded by Kohrmann descendant Moleyo Murphy, Harris County Precinct 4 designated the cemetery as a historical site with an official marker in 2006. Murphy also sought to attain Texas Historic Cemetery status for the site but was unable to complete the process before her death in 2008.