Originally known as Rockdale Cemetery, Old City Cemetery was established in 1874, the same year Rockdale was founded. Many of Rockdale's early residents and businessmen who helped shape the city are buried there. The cemetery's first four burials were for J.E. Featherstone, D. Murphy, Tennie Simms, and Marie Vogel. Initially segregated, the first recorded burial in the African American section was Katie Fulcher's in 1886, and the last known interment in that section was Georgia A. Smith (1872-1948). Among the well-known Rockdale citizens buried there are Anton Wolf (1846-1924), who built Wolf Hotel and was instrumental in forming St. Joseph's Catholic Church; Charles Hunter (C.H.) Coffield (1847-1918), a Civil War veteran who organized the First National Bank, served as Rockdale's mayor, and was a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Honor; Reverend W.E. Copeland (1839-1924), another Rockdale mayor who was also a Civil War veteran, railroad agent, and proponent of education who encouraged and assisted in building the public school; and General Hazard Perry Hale (1814-1882), who was Milam County commissioner in 1854, elected to the 6th Texas Legislature as a representative from Milam County, and served as a Civil War Brigadier General of the Texas State Troops 27th Brigade. Along with the Wolf, Coffield, Copeland, and Hale families, many other prominent names in Rockdale's history are represented, including the Perrys, Baxters, Longmoors, and Witchers. More than 40 known veterans are buried in Old City Cemetery.