Daniel Martin and his family settled at this site around 1833 beside the historic Trammel's Trace. Although the cemetery may have been used much earlier, the oldest documented burial is the 1883 grave of Jewel Williamson. The land was not officially deeded for cemetery purposes until 1972. In 1986, graves from the nearby Grant Cemetery were relocated here so coal mining could be conducted. When Martin Lake was constructed during the late 1970s, the cemetery became surrounded on three sides by water and now sits on a peninsula. Martin Cemetery remains active, and the cemetery association meets several times each year.