San Francisco Historic Cemeteries

INFORMATION

• General Cemetery History
• Cemetery Library
• Records
• San Francisco Historic Cemeteries Map

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

During 1776, the De Anza expedition established the Presidio and the Mission Dolores Catholic Church within the current city limits of San Francisco. Catholics were buried at the Mission and some individuals at the Presidio. As the village of Yerba Buena (now downtown) began to grow in the 1840s, individuals were buried on Telegraph Hill and at North Beach. In 1850, the City opened the first public cemetery, the Yerba Buena Cemetery. There were also some smaller religious cemeteries in the Mission and Pacific Heights neighborhoods. As San Francisco grew, there were constant calls to eliminate and relocate the cemeteries (with the singular exception of the Mission Dolores cemetery). The older pioneer cemeteries were located to the Yerba Buena Cemetery. In 1870, the City abolished the Yerba Buena Cemetery and the graves were moved to the newer cemeteries at Lone Mountain, and the City Cemetery (currently Lincoln Park). Most likely in response to local citizen pressure, the New Jewish cemeteries in the Mission neighborhood relocated to the town of Lawndale by 1896. Lawndale, just south of San Francisco and in San Mateo County, would eventually be renamed Colma in 1941.

Within the 1870s, the City realized that with the rapid expansion of the growth, the existing cemeteries were now valuable real estate. But, how to remove them? There was a significant financial investment already made by the plot owners. The leading scheme was to have them declared as a health hazard. In 1896, the San Francisco City Supervisors (“Supervisors”) passed an ordinance to prohibit “further sales of lots for burial purposes within the limits of the city, and also provided for further burials being made only in lots theretofore acquired.” But, the State Supreme Court held the ordinance as unconstitutional due to the fact that it discriminated against those who didn't have the opportunity to purchase lots. The Supervisors then, in 1900, passed an ordinance to prohibit any new burials because they are “dangerous to life and detrimental to the public health”. In 1912, the Supervisors passed a resolution to “to remove the cemeteries on [the] ground that their further maintenance is detrimental to the public health.” However, there was always organized opposition to these ordinances and it was found that under the California state laws it would be impossible to carry the resolution into effect.

In 1921, the Morris bill, allowing for the removal of cemeteries, was passed by the California State legislature. The bill was specifically aimed at the removal of the Big Four cemeteries (Calvary, Laurel Hill, Masonic, and Odd Fellows) in San Francisco. But, the law was held unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court. Thus, another law was passed in 1923, which was “drawn to conform to the Supreme Court opinion, [and] makes the Board of Supervisors, and not the cemetery associations, the judges of whether a cemetery is detrimental to public welfare and therefore removable by legislative action on the part of city authorities.”

In 1924, the Supervisors voted to remove the Big Four cemeteries within 10 years. However, the City Mayor at the time believed the citizens should be heard on the issue. The election of November 1924 resulted in a close result of 52% against cemetery removal. The issue was placed on the ballot again in November 1925, but excluding the Calvary Cemetery. Once again, the result was a close 52% against. But, the issue of cemetery removal was far from over.

In 1928, Masonic Cemetery lot holders filed for an injunction in Federal Court against the local cemetery removal ordinance. In 1929, Odd Fellows Cemetery lot holders also filed an injunction suit as well. However, in 1930, the court affirmed the local ordinance. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case and, by inference, held the earlier opinion. The fight was over for those two cemeteries. But, not yet for the other two. In 1937, another ordinance was passed by the Supervisors to evacuate Calvary Hill and Laurel Hill cemeteries. However, a petition put the Laurel Hill Cemetery on the voting ballot; however, the public sentiment had changed and voted against Laurel Hill (55.7% for removal).

The graves were removed from the Masonic Cemetery and Odd Fellows Cemetery in the early 1930s, and from Calvary Cemetery and Laurel Hill in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

There are four (4) cemeteries currently existing in San Francisco: the City Cemetery, Mission Dolores Cemetery, San Francisco National Cemetery, and the Marine Hospital Cemetery. Some may argue that the City Cemetery and Marine Hospital Cemetery don't exist; however, there are still a large number of graves buried within their old boundaries, even if there are no markers or gravestones above them.

With the possible exception of the Calvary Cemetery, the removals of the previous cemeteries never seemed complete. There have been many documented instances of where burials have been discovered long after the removals, and even within recent memory. For example, the City Cemetery (now Lincoln Park), was believed to have been completely removed and transformed into Fort Miley, an 18-hole municipal golf course, and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor museum. But, in 1993, during the renovation and expansion of the museum, over 700 bodies were discovered.

Currently, the only cemetery receiving new burials is the San Francisco National Cemetery. However, cremated remains are still accepted at the San Francisco Columbarium (located on the old Odd Fellows Cemetery grounds) and the Grace Cathedral Columbarium.