The Saturday morning sun rose over the iron archway that spelled out the Lake Como Cemetery, a 3-acre tract at the corner of Helmick Avenue and Halloran Street.
“Como born and raised” or “Como Alumni, Inc.” was printed on umbrellas, shirts and hats, each of them flashing the community’s color of purple and gold — the colors of the now closed Como Jr. Sr. High School.
“We all stand on the shoulders of someone, and we as a community stand on the shoulders of the people buried here,” Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks said, standing in front of the archway, to the nearly 100 people in attendance.
“They are in many ways the foundation of this community. And every time we get a chance to say thank you we ought to say thanks, that’s what this whole celebration is about today.”
The Lake Como Cemetery Association held a historical-marker dedication on Saturday to commemorate the historical significance of the Lake Como Cemetery. Each member wore a white top and black pants and slacks to distinguish themselves among the crowd.
There are no official records, but there is an estimate of 300 to 500 interments or graves in the cemetery. Former Como residents and veterans are buried in the cemetery who have contributed to the growth and development of the city.
“They deserve that honor, because of all the work that they did, not only to the community, but the country,” Wilbernita Crosby, who has relatives buried in the cemetery, said to the Star Telegram.
A cemetery for a growing Black community
The first residents who settled in what is now known as Lake Como settled in the area between 1907 and 1908.
Lake Como Cemetery, also historically referred to as Lake Como Colored Cemetery, was established in 1925 by Rev. George Washington Burton II of Zion Missionary Baptist Church as a burial place for members of the Black community. The Lake Como Cemetery Association was also established for the maintenance of the cemetery.
Undocumented burials took place prior to 1925. There are documented burials of individuals who were born prior to the end of slavery in 1865. The cemetery also includes veterans who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
Rev. George Washington Burton II is buried in the cemetery along with his three wives.
In 1987, The Como Alumni Club, Inc., donated the wrought iron arch over the entrance. In the late 1990s, The Zion Missionary Baptist Church representative who conducted funerals at the cemetery passed away and reduced the frequency of burials.
In 2018, the former president of the Lake Como Neighborhood Advisory, Ella Burton, was contacted by The All Saints Episcopal Church, who owned property across from the cemetery, was who was responsible for its maintenance.
Burton relayed it to the community and John Hudson, who owned a landscaping service, volunteered to be responsible for the cemetery’s maintenance. It was then passed down to his son Marcus Hudson. He started LEGACY, an acronym for Leaders Encouraging Greatness Among Como Youth, which was a group of Black men raised in Como. Its purpose is to promote a sense of community pride and begin cleaning, putting flowers, and beautifying the cemetery .
In 2019, Elouise Burrell became the president of the Lake Como Cemetery Association. In the same year they worked with the Texas Historical Commission to get a Texas Cemetery Historical Designation and was awarded a historic marker in spring of 2023.
In 2020, the first burials in over a decade took place at the cemetery.
“Stand on their shoulders”
The plan in the future is to continue to take care and preserve the cemetery. Ground penetrating radar has been used to search for unmarked graves inside the cemetery.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, whose family is from Como, said he has known this cemetery his entire life. He reminded the crowd of the dwindling number of African-American cemeteries in the country and the need to preserve and learn their history for years to come.
“Everyone that has been buried here has a story, and they have a family and they’ve made contributions to our community and to our city,” Veasey said to the crowd. “ And they deserve to be in a place that is well kept and respectable for generations and generations to come.”
Ethelene McCullough is a part of the Lake Como Cemetery Association and is a cousin of Crosby’s. She was born and raised in Como and currently lives on the east side of Fort Worth but still drives every week to Zion Missionary Baptist Church for Sunday service.
McCullough says the cemetery brings a cohesiveness and a sense of pride and camaraderie to a community.
It’s an atrocity if someone’s final resting place is overgrown and dirty, McCullough said. She says the cemetery needs to be taken care because it shows respect and how people can “ honor their memory because we stand on their shoulders.”
“It’s a way to show our young people, a way to connect with their heritage, respect for elders and those that are dead and have gone on before you,” McCullough said.
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