From Magnolia, there are multiple ways to travel to the Tomball area without using Hwy. 249, but few routes have as much as historic value as Roberts Cemetery Road.

Named for the cemetery established by early settler Abraham Roberts, the 3.5-mile road spans from FM 2920 in Hockley to Nichols Sawmill Road in Magnolia. The Texas Historical Commission declared the cemetery a state landmark in 1998.

Roberts came to the area—then known as New Kentucky—in the late 1820s as one of the first settlers of the colony established by Stephen F. Austin. German immigrants inhabited the area, which was a territory of Mexico at the time, and settled around nearby Spring Creek, according to the site’s historical marker.

In her book, “Welcome to Tomball,” Lessie Upchurch wrote that Roberts was selected by the Texas government to serve as the president of the election for the Constitutional Convention, which established the constitution for the short-lived Republic of Texas.

Roberts’ home—located in what was then known as Harrisburg—served as one of the area’s first polling locations for the election to adopt the constitution.

As the city of Houston began to develop in the mid-1830s, travelers began to bypass New Kentucky when traveling through the area in favor of the larger port city, and residents left the area, according to Upchurch’s book.

“The area was abandoned by 1840,” Upchurch wrote in her book.

The first burial on the site is believed to be the body of Roberts, who died in 1850, according to the site marker. The cemetery was later opened for community burials in the late 1850s.

Following Roberts’ death, C.A. Montgomery acquired the 2-acre cemetery site and donated it for continued community use in 1919. As of 1997, an official count in the graveyard revealed nearly 260 marked graves and 15 unmarked graves exist in the area. Roberts Cemetery remains open to the community.

As development moves westward from cities such as Tomball, many homes and businesses have popped up along Roberts Cemetery Road. In addition, the land surrounding the cemetery near FM 2920 will soon become the site of two new gas stations, a vast change from the once-unsettled land that existed 200 years ago.