Tag Archives: Cypress Lawn Cemetery

Cemetery Tours in Northern California again

Posted on October 1, 2012 | 2 comments

The Cogswell monument, Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland

In case you missed it last month, here’s a reminder of the cemetery tours in the next couple of months.

Many cemeteries host tours or fundraisers in the autumn to increase awareness and raise funds for the upkeep of these fragile community treasures. I hope this list inspires you to check around your own area to see what’s being offered. If you find anything intriguing, please post the link in the comments below.

Also, if you find misinformation or broken links in my list below, would you let me know? While I’ve done my best to be accurate, I cut and pasted from a number of sources. Something may have gotten garbled in translation.

Here’s the list:

Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13, 2012
Tours at 5:30, 6:15, 7, and 7:45 p.m.
10th Annual Barbara Bull Memorial Cemetery Walk
Sebastopol women’s stories come to life with Cemetery Walk. This year’s vignettes feature stories of a woman aviator, our first librarian, a mayor’s daughter from 1906, Sebastopol’s woman city clerk, a woman who witnessed Queen Victoria’s coronation, and a woman journalist. The event includes dinner, cemetery walk with six performances of historical vignettes, and dessert and coffee at the historic Luther Burbank Experiment Farm Cottage adjacent to Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery.
Location: Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery
Phone: (707) 823-0884 or (707) 829-1757
Admission: $25 for the 5:30 p.m. tours. $30 for the 6:15 p.m., 7 p.m., and 7:45 p.m. tours.
Event link: http://www.wschsgrf.org/

Saturday, October 13, 2012
1:30
Gargoyles, Foo Dogs and More: Interesting And Unusual Monuments at Cypress Lawn
Join other cemetery enthusiasts and lovers of history, art, and nature in discovering the cultural treasures of our beautiful organic outdoor museum and arboretum. Cypress Lawn has been a part of the San Francisco Bay Area’s cultural heritage since its founding in 1892. It is a 200-acre living museum of magnificent funeral art, architecture, and horticulture unlike any other museum in the world, full of the life stories of the men and women whose visions and dreams have shaped the Golden State of California.
Location: Tours start at the Noble Chapel located on the East Gardens of Cypress Lawn left past Cypress Lawn’s 120 year old Archway. Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma.
Phone: (650) 550-8810
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.cypresslawnheritagefoundation.com/events.html#walking

Saturday, October 13, 2012
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Exploring Mountain View Cemetery
This docent-led tour by Ruby Long will highlight the people, architecture, beauty and history of the cemetery.
Location: Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
Phone: (510) 658-2588
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/calendar.html

Saturday, October 13, 2012
10 a.m.
Children’s Tour of Sacramento’s Old City Cemetery
Docent-led tour.
Location: Old City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway, Sacramento
Phone: (916) 448-0811
Admission: free
Event link: http://www.oldcitycemetery.com/calendar.htm

Friday, October 19, and Saturday, October 20, 2012
Four tours per night after dark
Lantern Tours of Sacramento’s Old City Cemetery
Costumed actors speak for those in the graves at your feet.
Location: Old City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway, Sacramento
Phone: (800) 839-3006
Admission: $30 + handling fee
Event link: http://www.oldcitycemetery.com/Flyers/Lantern%20Tour_2012_SEPT.pdf

Sunday, October 21, 2012
2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Douglas Keister presents Stories in Stone: New York
Location: Cypress Lawn’s Reception Center, 2nd Floor of the Administration Building, 1370 El Camino Real, Colma, California
Phone: (650) 550-8811
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.cypresslawnheritagefoundation.com/events.html#walking

Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27, 2012
Four tours per night after dark
Lantern Tours of Sacramento’s Old City Cemetery
Costumed actors speak for those in the graves at your feet.
Location: Old City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway, Sacramento
Phone: (800) 839-3006
Admission: $30 + handling fee
Event link: http://www.oldcitycemetery.com/Flyers/Lantern%20Tour_2012_SEPT.pdf

Saturday, October 27, 2012
10 a.m.
Alamo Cemetery tour
Trained docents reveal stories of pioneer families during a special walk-through the cemetery.
Location: 130 El Portal, Danville
Phone: For reservations, call Betty Joyce at (925) 314-9612.
Admission: A donation of $3 is requested.
Event link: http://www.museumsrv.org/srvm_ex_walk.html

Saturday, October 27, 2012
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
UC Berkeley’s Blue and Gold
Docent-led tour by Ron Bachman and Jane Leroe. Come explore the history of UC Berkeley at Mountain View Cemetery. Meet famous founders, faculty, and alums. Go Bears!
Location: Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
Phone: (510) 658-2588
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/calendar.html

Saturday, October 27, 2012
11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Spooky Tales at Evergreen Cemetery
Get ready for Halloween with this spook-tacular journey through the cemetery. Docents will tell ghost stories from those buried at Evergreen (Don’t worry, it’s nothing too scary), teach you how to make a tombstone rubbing, send you on a spooky tour through the cemetery and much more. Be sure to wear your costume!
Location: Evergreen Cemetery, Evergreen Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
Phone: (831) 429-1964 x 7020
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.santacruzmah.org/event/spooky-tales-at-evergreen-cemetery/

Saturday, October 27, 2012
Noon – 3 p.m.
7th Annual Pumpkin Festival
Celebrate Halloween at our fun-filled pumpkin patch meadow with free pumpkins, activities, and treats for the kids!
Location: Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
Phone: (510) 658-2588
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/calendar.html

Saturday, October 27, 2012
1:30 p.m.
The Only in October Tomb Walk with Michael Svanevik
Join other cemetery enthusiasts and lovers of history, art, and nature in discovering the cultural treasures of our beautiful organic outdoor museum and arboretum. Cypress Lawn has been a part of the San Francisco Bay Area’s cultural heritage since its founding in 1892. It is a 200-acre living museum of magnificent funeral art, architecture and horticulture unlike any other museum in the world: a place full of the life stories of the men and women whose visions and dreams have shaped the Golden State of California.
Location: Tours start at the Noble Chapel located on the East Gardens of Cypress Lawn left past Cypress Lawn’s 120 year old Archway. Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma.
Phone: (650) 550-8810
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.cypresslawnheritagefoundation.com/events.html#walking

Saturday, October 27, 2012
4:30-8:30 p.m.
Union Cemetery Haunting
An exploration of Redwood City’s historic Union Cemetery.
Location: Union Cemetery, Woodside Road and El Camino Real, Redwood City.
Admission: Free, but donations accepted
Event link: http://historicunioncemetery.com/JoinUs.shtml

Sunday, October 28, 2012
Noon
Halloween Tour of Colma’s Cemeteries
We meet at the Colma BART station at noon, then take a spirited bike tour of several massive cemeteries where famous San Franciscans are buried. We’ll visit Woodlawn, Home of Peace and Hills of Eternity, Cypress Lawn, and Holy Cross.
Location: meet at the COLMA BART STATION at 12 noon
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.chriscarlsson.com/events/event/halloween-tour-of-colmas-cemeteries/

Wednesday, October 31, 2012
5 p.m.
Halloween Walking Tour of the Redding Cemetery
Cemeteries are “history books” that give insight regarding important changes that have occurred in the local area and in society as a whole. The Redding Cemetery is the oldest remaining cemetery in Redding and is the last resting place for many important, famous, and notorious people who lived in or traveled through the area. The walks focuses on the history of cemeteries in the U.S.; symbolism found in cemetery traditions and headstones; and the inter-relationship between people buried here. Actually, history at the cemeteries’ site goes back before there was a town of Redding.
Location: Meet at the Corner of Eureka Way and Continental Street.
Admission: Free
Event link: http://shastahistorical.org/events/

Saturday, November 3, 2012
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Walking Tour of Old St. Mary Cemetery
Join the Historical Society for a walking tour.
Location: Meet at St. Joseph Family Center, 7950 Church Street, Gilroy.
Phone: (408) 846-0446 to RSVP.
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.cityofgilroy.org/cityofgilroy/community/community_calendar/calendar_details.aspx?date=11/3/2012&type=0&typeindex=0

Saturday, November 10, 2012
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Exploring Mountain View Cemetery
This docent-led tour by Stafford Buckley will highlight the people, architecture, beauty and history of the cemetery.
Location: Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
Phone: (510) 658-2588
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/calendar.html

Saturday, November 24, 2012
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Symbolism in the Cemetery
This docent-led tour by Sandy Rauch will highlight the architecture and symbolism of the cemetery.
Location: Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
Phone: (510) 658-2588
Admission: Free
Event link: http://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/calendar.html

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Pillars of the Past

Posted on April 13, 2012 | 2 comments

Pillars of the Past: At Rest at Cypress Lawn Memorial ParkPillars of the Past: At Rest at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park by Michael Svanevik

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 1992, Michael Svanevik and Shirley Burgett compiled the initial edition of Pillars of the Past to commemorate the centennial of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California. That book has been long out of print (I’ve never come across a copy for sale in San Francisco), so this updated edition is very welcome.

Svanevik has worked closely with Cypress Lawn (in fact, he’s been involved with their monthly lecture series since 2001), so one assumes that some of the dirt involved in the cemetery business has been left out. However, due to his trusted position, he and Burgett were given complete access to the cemetery’s records. The largest portion of the book collects thumbnail biographies of some of the 100,000+ people buried here. Some of the stories are less than flattering, but all of the photographs are delightful.

In fact, I wish there were more of photographs, because Cypress Lawn has a matchless collection of funerary art — including a copy of William Wetmore Story’s Angel of Grief (Weeping Over the Dismantled Altar of Life), private tombs designed by the major architects responsible for downtown San Francisco, and hundreds of feet of exquisite stained glass ceilings inside the public mausoleum.

Unfortunately, the people who lie in Cypress Lawn are, while locally famous, generally unknown. Lucky Baldwin made his fortune in the Comstock Silver Mines, as did James Flood. John McLaren, the most influential superintendent of Golden Gate Park, rests here, along with Gertrude Atherton, author of 60 books about Old California. Some of the most interesting people are buried in an anonymous mound beneath the pioneer monument, where they were placed after San Francisco’s old Laurel Hill Cemetery was closed in 1940. Among them are Senator David Broderick, killed in the last important duel in the nation; Andrew Hallidie, father of San Francisco’s cable cars; and Phineas Gage, who survived having an iron rod driven through his skull, albeit as a changed man. He lies in the mound sans head, which was removed for study by Harvard University.

If you or your loved ones reside in California, Cypress Lawn demands a pilgrimage. The cemetery offers tours on the third Saturday of each month. (Tomorrow’s will study the exquisite stained glass in the public mausoleum.  Call 650-755-0580 to RSVP.) Before you come, do your research by studying Pillars of the Past.

A few used copies are available on Amazon: Pillars of the past: At rest at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park New copies are going for more than $100 each.

The book is also available from Cypress Lawn’s online bookstore.

Cemetery of the Week #55: Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

This review originally appeared in Morbid Curiosity #7.

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

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Cemetery Guardian of California’s Heritage

Posted on April 12, 2012 | 3 comments

Cypress Lawn: Guardian of California's HeritageCypress Lawn: Guardian of California’s Heritage by Cindy Ehrlich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the most beautiful books in my library of cemetery books. Bound in silk, this collection of over 400 photographs examines the marble angels, architecture, foliage, stained glass, and history of the largest public cemetery in the San Francisco Bay Area. While the text reads like advertising copy, the photos are worth the expense. Many of them are shot using only natural light, which serves as the best travel enticement I can imagine.

You can order a copy from Amazon: Cypress Lawn: Guardian of California’s Heritage or it is available from the graveyard itself. You can order it via Cypress Lawn’s online store. Either way, you should have a copy in your library.

This review originally appeared on Gothic.Net.

Cemetery of the Week #55: Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

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Cemetery of the Week #55: Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

Posted on April 11, 2012 | 20 comments

The Graves family monument, Cypress Lawn

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park
1370 El Camino Real
Colma, California 94014-3239
Telephone: 650-550-8810
Email: info@cypresslawn.com
Founded: 1892
Size: 200 acres
Number of interments: Approximately 200,000
Open: Every day, 8:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. or until dusk, whichever is later

Of the 17 graveyards just south of San Francisco in Colma, California, Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is by far the most welcoming to visitors. In addition to selling guidebooks on their website, the cemetery is really lovely.

The original side lies east of El Camino Real, but the newer western side has charms of its own, including huge carpet flowerbeds and a public mausoleum with 36,000 square feet of stained glass ceiling. In fact, Cypress Lawn has more stained glass in one place than anywhere else in the U.S.

Another highlight of the western side is the Laurel Hill Pioneer Monument. Until the 1940s, San Francisco’s Laurel Hill Cemetery stood where the Kaiser Permanente Hospital is now. A series of court cases and public referendums eventually chased cemeteries out of the city. Families were given the option to move their loved ones, but Laurel Hill tended to be the last refuge of single men. 35,000 people with no family were collected up, labeled if there was any way to identify their bones, placed in separate boxes, and interred in a concrete mausoleum beneath the pioneer mound. Among those sharing the mass grave are Andrew Hallidie, father of San Francisco’s iconic cable cars; anti-slavery Senator David Broderick, victim of the last historic duel in the U.S.; and Phineas Gage, who entered psychology textbooks because he survived having an iron rod jammed through his skull, albeit as a changed man. His experience in 1848 led to the study of the biological basis of human behavior. His head went to the Warren Anatomical Museum at Harvard University, according to local historian Michael Svanevik.

Cypress Lawn is said to have the highest concentration of historic Californians of any cemetery in the state. Among those with swank monuments are Senator George Hearst (father of William Randolph Hearst) and his wife Phoebe Apperson Hearst, founder of the kindergarten movement; Lillie Hitchcock Coit, namesake of Coit Tower on San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill; Lefty O’Doul, who traveled to Japan 30 times to help them develop baseball; and many more.

How did this historic place come about? Legend has it that in the 1890s, San Francisco financier Hamden Noble watched a funeral at Laurel Hill Cemetery. When workmen shoveled the stony soil and large rocks down into the grave, the coffin split open, to the horror of all present. Noble was inspired to treat the dead better.

He traveled to the fabled cemeteries of the East Coast: Cambridge’s Mount Auburn, the first garden cemetery in the U.S.; Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill (for whom San Francisco’s was named); and Brooklyn’s Green-Wood. Each of those graveyards was built on the edge of town where there seemed to be plenty of room to expand. They were primarily resting places for the wealthy, but also served as arboretums full of flowers and trees and as art museums full of graceful statuary and beautiful revival-style mausoleums. People came to visit these graveyards on the weekends, picnicking on the grounds, feeding the birds, hiking, courting, and generally enjoying a sense of their mortality amongst exquisitely tamed nature. Noble contrasted that to San Francisco’s cemeteries, where the monuments had been damaged by earthquakes and never repaired, where the un-irrigated grass was green only in springtime, where trees struggled to survive in the constant wind off the ocean.

Vista in Cypress Lawn

Noble purchased 47 acres of fertile farmland south of San Francisco from the San Francisco diocese for his cemetery. Under the influence of John McLaren, the legendary superintendent of Golden Gate Park, Noble strove for “peaceful vistas and dynamic harmony of plantings,” according to California historian Kevin Starr.

By the dawn of the 20th century, Cypress Lawn had more trees and shrubs than any public park in the United States. To advertise this, Noble used to purchase space on the city’s streetcars to keep potential visitors informed of what was blossoming in the cemetery. The blooming of the Australian redbud eucalyptus that once lined the walkways was celebrated in San Francisco much like the cherry trees are in Japan.

Noble was also responsible for importing the brown-winged turbit pigeon to California. He’d seen the birds at Mount Auburn and wanted some to grace his cemetery. Every morning at 9 a.m., Noble would spell out the cemetery’s name in birdseed so the streetcar would get a show when it passed. The original flock swelled to thousands by the time Noble died in 1929 and the expensive daily feedings ceased.

My favorite part of a trip to Cypress Lawn is a walk amidst the monuments. Cypress Lawn has quite a collection of angels, ranging from the angel placing the plumed pen on Thomas O. Larkin’s grave to the delicate stained glass windows inside the mausoleums to the copy of William Wetmore Story’s Angel of Grief (Weeping Over the Dismantled Altar of Life) that marks the grave of Teddy Roosevelt’s cousin Jenny Roosevelt Poole. There’s also a find assemblage of muses, female figures who mourn eternally over graves but lack angels’ wings. One of my particular favorites is a marble lady dropping daisies on the Ruffino grave. Another sculpture I’m very fond of is the Madonna struggling with her squirming babe. I’m very certain that your exploration of Cypress Lawn will yield favorites of your own.

One of my favorite cemetery ladies

Useful links:
Events at Cypress Lawn

Cypress Lawn Heritage Foundation

Bella Morte feature on Cypress Lawn

Books I’ve reviewed that reference Cypress Lawn:

Cypress Lawn: Guardian of California’s Heritage

Pillars of the Past: At Rest at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

City of Souls: San Francisco’s Necropolis at Colma

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Journey

Posted on April 10, 2012 | 5 comments

The Larkin monument at Cypress Lawn

Thomas O. Larkin served as the only United States consul to Mexican province of Alta California during the 1840s.  He was captured during California’s transition to the United States. After annexation, he became a “merchant prince” in California, speculating in land from the Mexican ranchos.  He co-founded the city of Benicia, which served briefly as the California state capitol.  At one point, he was the richest man in America.

After his death in 1858, Larkin was buried in San Francisco’s beautiful and historic Laurel Hill Cemetery.   Decades later, his grave was suitably marked with an angel carved by German-born artist Rupert Schmid.  The down-gazing angel is placing a feathered pen on the grave.  Larkin had been one of the signers of the Californian constitution.

At the dawn of the 20th century, San Francisco politicians banned burials inside the city limits.  Laurel Hill Cemetery fought developers who eyed its land, but in 1940 the cemetery was demolished and its residents moved to Colma.  Larkin, and his angel, were transfered to Cypress Lawn Cemetery, where they remain to this day.

Cemetery of the Week #55: Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California

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