Around the turn of the century there weren't many places for African-Americans to be buried in Lake Charles. Huff and Thomas cemetery was founded to address this issue. The land on which the cemetery sits was most likely donated by the Goos family.

From the to 1920's to 30's burials at the cemetery were performed by Gilmore Funeral Home. When the funeral home went out of business in the late 70's all burial records were subsequently lost.

At one time the property tax went unpaid resulting in the state acquiring the cemetery. After a lengthy process involving the Legislature, the Louisiana Governor signed the deed conveying the property back to the living descendants.

In 1999, relatives of those buried at the site helped organize a cemetery association to upgrade the condition of the graveyard and maintain it.

Hurricane Rita resulted in gravesites being damaged by fallen trees and limbs, exposing the contents of some graves. The Calcasieu coroner investigated the cemetery to see if it was a public health hazard. Remains were carefully removed and kept at the Coroner's office until the city found a suitable location to rebury the contents.

Over the years upkeep and maintenance of the site was carried out by prisoners and by local fraternity members. More recently the Omega Psi Phi fraternity adopted the cemetery and assisted in its care taking.

The name ‘Huff and Thomas' may come from the cemeteries earliest inhabitants. The Thomas family utilized the cemetery for multiple burials. Frank Huff was buried at the cemetery in August of 1918. Huff co-owned the Scott-Huff Mercantile Company, and was a well known character in early Lake Charles. In 1907 he help establish an Education League, with the object of adding public schools to the local African American community. A newspaper article from 1904, titled "Little Doing", states that "Frank Huff was charged with running an entertainment without permit." Frank admitted his guilt saying that, "he did not know it was against the law." He was fined $5.

Surnames found at this cemetery include: Balkey, Biggers, Franklin, Goins, Green, Holmes, Hashington, Jones, Johnson, Kinney, Lewis, McCarr, Mouton,Williams

Did you know? Mrs. Ethel Thomas, a native of New Orleans, owned and operated the Huff and Thomas cemetery until her death in 1971. She is buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in New Orleans. Mrs. Thomas (born Ethan Hack) was a member of Mount Calvary Baptist Church. She had a bachelor's degree from Southern University and a master's degree in education from Texas Southern University in Houston. She taught fourth grade at the Cherry Street for many years.