After the Texas and Pacific Railway arrived on December 4, 1880, and the town of Baird came to be, a burial ground was soon needed. E.H. Newton reserved 10 acres in 1881, and in 1887 those 10 acres were deeded by James Evans Ross, giving Ross Cemetery its name. The first burial was a cowboy in April 1881, and the oldest marked grave is that of Andrew O. Raney from July 1881. Between 1901 and 1923, additional acreage was deeded by J.E. Mayes, D.W. and Ella Teasley, and the Sanger Brothers, bringing the total to 16.9 acres. Mrs. Mable Wylie deeded 8.5 acres in 1956 to form the Ross Annex, and 10.4 acres were added in July 1988 and August 2002 as the Spencer Price Addition, for a total of 35.8 acres. Early railroaders, ranchers, farmers, and merchants are buried here alongside war heroes from the Texas Revolution to present-day battles. The cemetery is maintained by an endowment supported by families of those interred there, with operations supervised by directors of the Baird Cemetery Association, formed in 1975, and it was certified as a Texas Historical Cemetery in June 2006.