January 28, 2006
there are only three cemeteries left within the city limits of san francisco. note the phrase carefully: “left” in san francisco. there were once far more than just three, which makes perfect sense — after all, thousands upon thousands of san franciscans have passed away since the establishment of yerba buena 170 years ago, and they all required a final resting place.
the question is, what happened to them… and where are they now?
i present today a short history of cemeteries in san francisco, as well as the answer to the question of which three still remain.
for further edification:
» john blackett’s san francisco cemetery history - maps + photos
» san francisco genealogy - cemetery history
» san francisco virtual museum - cemetery history
» recent civic center excavations
» san francisco columbarium
random episode from the archives:
mission street railroad graphic
Note
tyler, a loyal listener, sent in an interesting addendum to this story. after a visit to the spot he mentions, i’m certain that he’s right. photos and his note appear below.
“The more I learn about SF’s cemeteries, the more I am convinced that the retaining wall in the attached photos is constructed of grave markers. It’s in Noe Valley, at the SE corner of Castro & Valley Streets. The sidewalk is about 4 ft. below the level of the road here. Apparently some resourceful DPW engineer decided to use what was available at the time: abundant, cheap, pre-cut, very high quality granite slabs. The fact that they have names on them does not make them any less effective.”
8 responses to “#44: moving the dead — san francisco cemeteries”
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April 13, 2007 at 3:42 pm[...] A cemetery was once buried under the Civic Center [...]
January 30, 2006 at 11:34 am
The other very famous emptying of graveyards was in Paris which took all the dead from Cemetery of the Innocents in 1786 and piled them in the catacombs. Somewhere between 3-6 million bodies were moved.
Chris from the Amateur Traveler podcast
February 16, 2006 at 11:34 am
R.I.P. Rest in Peace, have we forgot about that. I think it is wrong to move the dead, the dead is supposed to be holy and sacred. Show some respect people.
August 18, 2006 at 11:34 am
I completed a 46-minute documentary on the this topic! It is titled, _a Second Final Rest: The History of San Francisco’s Lost Cemeteries_. I don’t have any public screenings of it planned at the present time, but the DVD is available through my website at trinalopez.com
I will go look for the stones in the pictures — I’ve never seen those ones! Other names are visible on a wall to the west of Aquatic Park and in rain gutters in Buena Vista Park and the Marina breakwater and the Wave Organ are also constructed from tombstone rubble!
August 19, 2006 at 3:30 am
I checked out your website, and noticed that you linked to a website about Emmitt Watson, caretaker at the columbarium.
Sparkletack #51, “The Columbarium and the Caretaker” is all about Emmitt… check out the archive list at right.
Looking forward to your DVD!
February 12, 2008 at 9:47 pm
This is great post and great comments. How does this impact the databases of headstones. I’ve found online cemetery searches a great way to get things going (before an inperson visit) but the idea of such a broadbased move is a bit un-nerving.
Trina - you DVD looks good. I think I’ll have to pick it up to get the full story.
I knew nothing about this.
March 19, 2008 at 6:13 am
I remember in 1974… Pretty sure it was ‘74… I was with some friends goofing around on the fringe of Lincoln Park Golf Course - There was a path up from 40th and Clement, just alongside the fence of East Ft Miley -… Anyway, there was some work being done on the golf course which caused great ten-foot piles of earth to be piled upa few yards from whatever # hole is there. Among the dirt piles I remember picking up what was obviously a human femur, just lying there. We didn’t go digging for other body parts or anything and my mother had told me it had been a cemetery so we certainly didn’t report it.
June 2, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Very Interesting my ‘Friend’, i didn’t known about the Noe Valley wall, but you had better watch your back, more Ghost are a’ movin’.
John W. Blackett,
Sincerley.
P.S. The Paris cemeteries were mostly moved to a catacomb site still within the Paris City Limits. Think about that…!?!