General Ed Burleson donated the original twenty-five-acre tract in 1851 upon his death and he was the first interred in the official state cemetery. Long devoid of buildings, the state undertook an effort at the direction of Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock to redesign the approaches to the cemetery and provide buildings for interpretation and memorials using Texas Cordova Crème limestone native to the region. The cemetery today is an honored place of restricted burial for Texas's elected and appointed statesmen, regents, civil servants, and Republic of Texas veterans and their spouses. Stephen F. Austin is buried here, as are politicians Barbara Jordan and Ann Richards. A Confederate veterans' cemetery also occupies the grounds.