Our History
The story of Nameless Cemetery is the story of the families who built this corner of the Texas Hill Country. From the 1860s settlers who cleared the land to the volunteers who restore headstones today, this ground has been held by community hands for over 160 years.
Historic Nameless Cemetery
In 1906, Bell Turner and his wife Rose deeded 1.5 acres to Travis County "for a public free school and burial grounds and church purposes." An additional acre was added in 1910. This land became the home of both the Nameless Cemetery and the Fairview School (now the Nameless Schoolhouse).
But the community was already here. The earliest known burial in the cemetery dates to 1882: Samuel Pope, age 11, son of Wilson and Nancy Pope. The earliest grave in the broader Nameless area belongs to Eliza Gray, buried at the Gray Family Cemetery that same year.
By 1884, the Nameless community had around 50 residents, a church, a school, a general store, and a meat market. Settlers like Hubbard Gray, who donated land for the community's first school in 1877, built the infrastructure that made life possible in the cedar brakes west of Austin.
Many families here were cedar choppers: rural Texans who made their living cutting and selling cedar posts and fence rails. Cotton, cedar posts, and rails were the principal commodities shipped from the Nameless area.
On February 7, 2007, Nameless Cemetery received its Historic Texas Cemetery designation from the Texas Historical Commission (Atlas #7453008005). This legal designation provides certain protections and recognizes the cemetery's historical significance to the state.
The Nameless/Fairview Cemetery Association was incorporated on June 2, 2009 to help preserve and upkeep the old cemetery. There are approximately 169 burials there with at least 35 of these unmarked. The earliest known grave site was in 1882.
The association has an Annual Cemetery Meeting the second Saturday of every October and Clean Up days whenever needed.
There are 2 gates to go through to get to the cemetery and each can be opened with the code 7171#.
The 2025 Flood
Nameless Cemetery was flooded on July 4/5, 2025 with more than 8 ft. of water from Sandy Creek rushing through. It tore down the fence washing debris and large tree limbs, knocking down headstones, and washing out dirt in some areas while making mounds of dirt in other areas.
Thankfully, we had more than 100 people from various disaster relief teams come out a week later and haul off debris, and fencing and got the cemetery cleared enough for us to begin repair work.
We hired Avalon Monuments who came out and restored the headstones that were knocked over, then Southern Landscapes evened out the dirt and hauled more dirt in to fill in where needed.
Neelie Kildow with Travis County Parks was very instrumental in helping with the donation from Travis County for the new wrought iron fence. Ray's Ornamental's put up the new arch over the gates with the name of the cemetery.
The cemetery association also wants to thank so many of you who donated to help us restore this old cemetery. Thanks also to Bagdad Cemetery, Weed-Corley Funeral Home and Beck Funeral Home who made generous donations! The cemetery looks better than ever now!
The Nameless Schoolhouse
There has been a school on the site since 1870 to the present time. It has been used as a school and a place of worship through the years. The present school was built in 1909 on the same site as the original. It is a one room school house with the old wood burning stove still in place. It was known as Fairview School until the time it closed in 1945. It was renovated by Friends of Nameless School, a group of ladies that meet the second Thursday of each month at 10:00am at the school. The organization diligently worked to raise matching funds for a grant from the Texas Historical Commission Preservation Trust Fund Grant program and have turned it into a place of pride to be remembered for many generations to come.
In 2009, the schoolhouse was restored for its centennial. That same year, Carolyn Davis Bonnet and two others formed the Nameless Cemetery Association to care for the adjacent burial ground.
In 1970 the community of Nameless was awarded a Texas Historical Survey Marker that was erected on the school property.
The cemetery and school are located at 23436 Nameless Road, Leander, TX 78641.
The Gray Homestead
In 2023, Paula Fiedler discovered the original 1873 Gray homestead near the Travisso subdivision. The cedar dog-run style house (two rooms separated by a central open area) was relocated in October 2024 across Nameless Road to the historic school site. Travisso developer Taylor Morrison donated $15,000 for the move.
The Gray Family Cemetery, where Eliza and likely Hubbard Gray are buried, received its own Historic Texas Cemetery designation in 2024.