Houston officials announce new efforts to restore historic Riceville Cemetery

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Located near the corner of South Gessner and West Bellfort, Riceville is one of Houston's oldest Black settlements.

On Friday, officials introduced important improvements to the cemetery.

"When I look at the graves, it's like a movie that comes on and a tape recorder. I can hear the voices of these people. I can see them alive and what they did," said Charles Garcia.

Garcia's parents and nine siblings are buried in the Riceville Cemetery.

And those he doesn't know by blood, he knows by name.

"We dug the graves for these people. These people took care of us when we were children," he said. "As a child, I'm six, seven years old, and dad had me pulling a trailer loaded with cotton all the way up to the gin for them to take the cotton. We were Black farmers, and we got cheated out there."

Garcia grew up in Riceville, a small but historic community surrounded by Houston, Meadows Place, and Missouri City.

Riceville is one of Houston's first freedom colonies, small villages that Black Texans founded in the 19th century.

Records show Riceville became a part of Houston in the late 1960s, but for many years afterward, it had city services such as water or sewage. Riceville Cemetery was built sometime in the 1880's.

"I like to visit old cemeteries, and it's not in any morbid sense," said Roy Smith, who grew up in Riceville. "It's just that I like to know those who have gone before me and what their lives were like."

Roy Smith is 94 years old and was baptized in Brays Bayou, behind the cemetery.

His parents are buried there, but over the years, the cemetery was not maintained, and he says his mother's remains were lost.

Now, he is hopeful that her remains will be found.

Houston city officials say they are working to restore the cemetery.

A new mural, commissioned by Houston City Council Member Edward Pollard and created with Riceville Mount Olive Baptist Church, now honors the cemetery and the Rice family, who founded the area.

"Remembering the dirt roads and the chicken pens and us playing out there together, no water, just emotional. I'm just grateful," said Kimberly Rice-Stevens, a member of the Rice family.

"Everything just rushed into me, emotions, everything," added John Hearn, another member of the Rice Family. "It was just beautiful to have that memorial out there for Jack Rice, it says that you know, once again, your family is important."

The community is honoring its shared past while looking forward to the future.

"I have a lot of hope. I have hope it's going to come sooner than we think," Garcia said. "Yes, I do."