The earliest graves in Grapeland were located on the block where the Baptist Church now stands. A log cabin was located on this block that was used for church services and as a schoolhouse. This log cabin was perhaps the first structure in the townsite area. At this writing, no information relating to who built it, why they built it in this area, or why the area was used for burial grounds. No records have been found before 1900 of the land these graves occupied being sold for the purposes of a cemetery. The land belonged to the New York and Texas Land Co. The oldest stones found were those of Rev. Robert McCoy (April 1879) and wife Barbara (August 1879). In 1906 Mr. M. Morrison of the New York and Texas Land Co. requested that the City Council ask the people of Grapeland to move the graves out of the old cemetery. These graves were moved to the southeast corner of the new cemetery. Twenty-six of these graves were unnamed but marked by stones and rocks. The Baptist Church purchased the old school-church and cemetery area on October 17, 1900.

In March 1900, the city bought the present day five-acre cemetery for $50 from the New York and Texas Land Co. The trustees receiving the deed were: George E. Darsey Sr., James M. Owens, and J.E. Hollingsworth. The easement for a road from the railroad to the cemetery was donated by the Guice family.

In the early 1960s donations were made by the citizens of Grapeland and the cemetery was placed in a perpetual care trust in a bank in Dallas. The fees charged by the bank for handling the trust were so high that no money was left to care for the cemetery. The trust was then broken, and the monies of the cemetery were placed in the hands of local trustees. The cemetery is a non-profit corporation officially named the Grapeland Memorial Park, Grapeland, Texas. At present, the officers of this corporation are Adolph Haynes, president; Earl Cheatham, vice-president; and Miss Sue Taylor, secretary-treasurer. The trustees of the corporation are Sam Kennedy, Walter Cook, and Ralph Walton.