The Highland community was established in the mid-1800s as a stop on the stage route between Buckner, about 3 miles west of the present site of McKinney, and Bonham. In 1858, early settler Charles H. Wysong donated 3 acres of land for a community church, school, and cemetery. The first marked grave, that of Robert Strother, is dated 1861. Many north central Collin County pioneers and their descendants are buried here. The cemetery is cared for by the Highland Cemetery Association, organized more than one hundred years ago.