Aurelius Delphus Bourland (1840-1904), a North Carolina native, Civil War veteran, farmer, and Primitive Baptist preacher, bought this land in 1873 and first used it as a family cemetery. The earliest marked grave is that of his grandson A. Delphus White, who died in 1886. In 1899, Bourland sold 2.5 acres, including the gravesites, to the residents of Keller, 1.5 miles southwest, for use as a public burial ground. Additional land was given by the Bourland family in 1947 and by the family of A.B. Harmonson (1891-1967) in 1977. The gateway was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1935.