HOUSTON—At College Park Memorial Cemetery, each headstone marks a bit of Houston history.

The cemetery was established in 1897 and was a burial ground for slaves and their descendents.

Many of them are members of Bethel Baptist Church in Fourth Ward.

Rev. Robert Roberston is the church’s pastor.

“The significance of the cemetery, to me and to the church, is to preserve it,” he said.

The cemetery is located just off Dallas Street.

It once stretched from Dunlavy to Gross street near River Oaks. That part of the cemetery was sold in the 1960s.

The graves were relocated and the land was paved over.

Now a developer who bought part of the land wants to create an urban living district with shops, restaurants and condos.

But before construction starts, Rev. Roberston wants to make sure no graves are overlooked.

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At College Park Memorial Cemetery, each name, each grave and each headstone marks a bit of Houston's history. The cemetery was established in 1897 and was a burial ground for slaves and their descendents.

“We don’t know if there are any other bodies there, that’s why we are waiting to see,” he said.

Records indicate many members of the church from long ago are buried at the site.

Many graves are unmarked.

“So there has been some burials here over the many years of the cemetery that weren’t properly recorded. There’s not a lot of those, but there are some. So yes, you have to take that into account when you are looking back 100 years ago,” said Randy Riepe who is a geophysicist.

The developer agreed to look back, just in case.

In a statement, the company vice president said his group has created a site excavation action plan which includes continual archeological monitoring.

So far, there is no documentation showing that the graves exist, but all parties agree that remains need to be preserved.

The biggest goal is to restore the entire cemetery to what it use to be.

“We see a potential of as much as $2 million going into the property,” said Mark McKinnon, a landscape architect.