Laurel Hill Cemetery was named for laurel trees that grew around the baptismal pool of Laurel Hill Baptist Church. The site was given by Gen. James B. Davis (1790-1859), adjutant-general of the Republic of Texas army in 1842, and the cemetery was opened for use in the 1840s. Its oldest gravestone is that of Frances California Snow, who died in 1854 at age two. Her father, physician Thomas Snow, was buried here in 1858, and the site donor, Gen. Davis, the next year. When the present fencing was done, G. R. McKellar donated a small strip of land on the north side and heirs of Dr. D. McCardell gave a nine-foot strip on the south.