Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a

rural cemetery A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries, which tended to be churchyards. Rural cemeter ...

located in

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated List of municipalities in California, town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 U ...

, a place known as the "City of the Silent".

History

Noble was a Civil War veteran who moved to California in 1865 and was a member of the

San Francisco Stock Exchange The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange was a regional stock exchange based in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1882, in 1928 the exchange purchased and began using the name San Francisco Stock Exchange, while the old San Fra ...

prior to founding Cypress Lawn. On March 9, 1892, Noble was granted a permit to establish a non-sectarian cemetery and plans for Cypress Lawn were made public as work had begun on a mortuary chapel and receiving vault. Noble was responsible for the initial layout and landscape architecture of the cemetery. The prominent castle-like granite entry gate east of El Camino was designed by the B. McDougall architecture firm in San Francisco in 1892, incorporating

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

elements, and completed in 1893. The site was dedicated on May 28, 1893. A crematory also was completed in 1893, housed in a building designed by

Albert Pissis Albert Pissis (1852–1914) was a prolific Mexican-born American architect, of French and Mexican descent. He was active in San Francisco and had studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. He is credited with introducing the Beaux- ...

and William P. Moore; it was damaged beyond repair during the

1957 San Francisco earthquake The 1957 San Francisco earthquake (also known as the Daly City earthquake of 1957) occurred on March 22 at 11:44:22 local time with a moment magnitude of 5.7 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (''Very strong''). It was located just off t ...

and subsequently demolished. The idea of rural or garden cemeteries (as opposed to city cemeteries) became popular in the mid 19th-century in the United States following the founding of

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

, and cities like San Francisco began relocating their badly maintained urban cemeteries to suburban settings. Between February 1940 until 1945, many of the remains from the Lone Mountain Cemetery complex in San Francisco had been moved to Cypress Lawn Memorial Park and were placed in a mound. In 1993, a memorial obelisk was added to the grassy mound to commemorate those that had been re-interred. The cemetery was among those profiled in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary ''

A Cemetery Special Richard Sebak (born June 5, 1953) is an American public broadcasting television producer, writer and narrator who lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. Early life and education Richard Sebak was born on June 5, 195 ...

'' (2005) by Rick Sebak.

Site

The original cemetery occupies east of El Camino Real and west of Hillside Boulevard and is known as the East Campus; the site was expanded by west of El Camino, acquired in 1901, named the West Campus. Lakes were added in the 1920s. In 2006, Cypress Lawn opened the Hillside Gardens, northeast of the original campus. The Mount Olivet cemetery, founded in 1896 on adjacent to Hillside Gardens, was acquired by Cypress Lawn in 2020 and renamed Olivet Gardens. Several structures are on the original (East Campus) site, including the 1892 entrance gate, the Noble Chapel and Crematory, named for the founder and completed in 1894, and the original

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

, completed in 1895 to a design by Edward Hatherton and T. Paterson Ross. The Lakeside Columbarium, also on the East Campus, was designed by Bernard J. S. Cahill and started in 1927, but construction was suspended in 1930 due to the Great Depression and never resumed. On the West Campus, both the Public Mausoleum and Catacombs (completed 1921) and the Administration Building (1919) were also designed by Cahill. Since 2020, an annual Arboretum day is held in November to celebrate the site's trees, some of which were selected and planted by Noble. One of the notable trees on the original campus is a

Monterey cypress ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' also known as ''Cupressus macrocarpa'', or the Monterey cypress is a coniferous tree, and is one of several species of cypress trees native to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Centr ...

which was estimated to be planted before 1906. File:The Architect and engineer of California and the Pacific Coast (1916) (14763178932).jpg, Public Mausoleum (West Campus, 1916) File:Cypress Lawn, Hillside entrance.jpg, Eastern entrance to East Campus, from Hillside Blvd File:Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California 9.jpg, Noble Chapel (East Campus, 1894) File:Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California 14.jpg, Original columbarium (East Campus, 1895) File:Hillside Gardens of Cypress Lawn 2.jpg, Entrance gate to Hillside Gardens File:Mount Olivet cemetery, Colma California 5.jpg, Olivet Gardens garden court File:Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California 2.jpg, Floral topiary sign and

tourist trolley A tourist trolley, also called a road trolley, is a bus designed to resemble an old-style streetcar or tram, usually with false clerestory roof. The vehicles are usually fueled by diesel, or sometimes compressed natural gas. The name refers ...

s (West Campus) File:Cypress Lawn cemetery, Colma, California 2.jpg, Catacombs and Administration buildings (West Campus)

Notable burials

File:Phoebe Hearst Grave site.jpg, Hearst family mausoleum File:Thomas O. Larkin grave front.JPG, Thomas O. Larkin File:Lefty O'Doul grave.jpg,

Lefty O'Doul Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American professional baseball player and manager. Though he spent eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, most notably for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillie ...

File:Angel of Grief Pool.jpg, Jennie Roosevelt Pool memorial marked with the

Angel of Grief An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in various ...

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several members of the celebrated Hearst family, people from the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, plus other prominent citizens from the city of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and nearby surroundings. By 1992, more than 300,000 had been interred at the site. Three British Commonwealth service personnel of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

were buried here, but only one, Lieutenant Norman Travers Simpkin (died 1919),

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

, has a marked grave in the cemetery. Two others,

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

soldiers, are alternatively commemorated on a special memorial in Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma.

A

Isabella Macdonald Alden Isabella Macdonald Alden (nickname and pen name, Pansy; November 3, 1841 – August 5, 1930) was an American author. Her best known works were: ''Four Girls at Chautauqua'', ''Chautauqua Girls at Home'', ''Tip Lewis and his Lamp'', ''Three Pe ...

(1841–1930), writer * Izora Armstead (1942–2004), singer and member of

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* Gertrude Franklin (Horn) Atherton (1857–1948), author * Monte Attell (1885–1960), world boxing champion

B

Hubert Howe Bancroft Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published, and collected works concerning the Western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America, and British Colum ...

(1832–1918), pre-eminent writer of California history * Lucius Barker (1928–2020), political scientist *

Lincoln Beachey Lincoln Beachey (March 3, 1887 – March 14, 1915) was a Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer American aviator and barnstorming, barnstormer. He became famous and wealthy from flying exhibitions, staging aerial stunts, helping invent aerobati ...

(1887–1915), aviation pioneer * David Colbreth Broderick (1820–1859), U.S. Senator from California; opponent of slavery, considered martyred in a duel by a pro-slavery opponent *

Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ...

(1874–1957), prominent San Francisco architect * Samuel D. Burris (1813–1863),

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

conductor

C

Dolph Camilli Adolph Louis Camilli (April 23, 1907 – October 21, 1997) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was named the National League (baseball), Natio ...

(1907–1997), 1941 National League Baseball Most Valuable Player * R. C. Chambers (1832–1901), businessperson, politician, owner of the Chambers Mansion in San Francisco * John C. Cremony (1815–1879), soldier, author, newsman *

Joseph Paul Cretzer Joseph Paul "Dutch" Cretzer (April 17, 1911 − May 4, 1946) was an American bank robber and prisoner at Alcatraz who participated in and was slain in the bloody "Battle of Alcatraz" which took place following a failed escape attempt between May ...

(1911–1946), bank robber and prisoner, died in the escape attempt known as the "

Battle of Alcatraz The Battle of Alcatraz, which lasted from May 2 to 4, 1946, was the result of an escape attempt at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary by armed convicts. Two Federal Bureau of Prisons officers—William A. Miller and Harold Stites—were killed (Miller ...

" *

Laura Hope Crews Laura Hope Crews (December 12, 1879 – November 12, 1942) was an American actress. Although she is best remembered today for her later work as a character actress in motion pictures of the 1930s, she also was prolific on stage; among her f ...

(1879–1942), actress * William H. Crocker (1861–1937), banker

D

George Washington Dennis George Washington Dennis ( – September 16, 1916), was an American entrepreneur, real estate developer, advocate for Black rights, and gambler. He was African American, and born enslaved in Alabama; he came to California as chattel during the ...

(c. 1825–1916), formerly enslaved entrepreneur, real estate developer, and advocate for Black rights * Anne McKee Armstrong de Saint Cyr (1864–1925), philanthropist, mother of Princess Miguel of Braganza, Duchess of Viseu * Jean de Saint Cyr (1875–1966), playboy third husband of Anne McKee Armstrong de Saint Cyr

F

Abby Fisher Abby Fisher, sometimes spelled as Abbie Fisher (c. 1831 – 1915) was an American former slave from South Carolina who earned her living as a pickle manufacturer in San Francisco and published the second known cookbook by a Black woman in the Uni ...

(–1915), former slave and cookbook author *

Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, '' The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress E ...

(1928–2010), entertainer * James Clair Flood (1826–1889), " Bonanza King"

G

Phineas Gage Phineas P. Gage (18231860) was an American railroad construction foreman remembered for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, ...

(1823–1860), noted brain-injury survivor * Jack Bee Garland (1869–1936), author, transgender man

H

Andrew Smith Hallidie Andrew Smith Hallidie (March 16, 1836 – April 24, 1900) was an American entrepreneur who was the promoter of the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco. This was the world's first practical cable car system, and Hallidie is often therefor ...

(1836–1900), first cable car system designer, Inventor * William H. H. Hart (died 1918), 16th Attorney General of California *

George Hearst George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891) was an American businessman, politician, and patriarch of the Hearst family, Hearst business dynasty. After growing up on a small farm in Missouri, he founded many mining operations a ...

(1820–1891), businessman, father of William Randolph Hearst *

Phoebe Hearst Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst (December 3, 1842 – April 13, 1919) was an American philanthropist, feminist and suffragist. Hearst was the founder of the University of California Museum of Anthropology, now called the Phoebe A. Hearst Mu ...

(1842–1919), first female Regent of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

(1863–1951), publishing magnate *

Charles S. Howard Charles Stewart Howard (February 28, 1877 – June 6, 1950) was an American businessman. He made his fortune as an automobile dealer and became a prominent thoroughbred racehorse owner. Biography Howard was dubbed one of the most successful Bui ...

(1877–1950), businessman, owner of racehorse

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-hors ...

J

* Hiram W. Johnson (1866–1945), statesman, governor

K

* Jennie Murray Kemp (1858–1928), temperance leader and writer

L

* Thomas O. Larkin (1802–1858), businessman, signer of the original

California Constitution The Constitution of California () is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's constitution was drafted in both English ...

Edwin M. Lee Edwin Mah Lee (May 5, 1952 – December 12, 2017) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco from 2011 until his death in 2017. Born in Seattle to Chinese American parents, Lee was a member of the D ...

(1952–2017), 43rd

Mayor of San Francisco The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the Government of San Francisco, San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either appro ...

William Lobb William Lobb (1809 – 3 May 1864) was a British plant collector, employed by Veitch Nurseries of Exeter, who was responsible for introducing to commercial growers Britain ''Araucaria araucana'' (the monkey-puzzle tree) from Chile and the mass ...

(1809–1864), English botanist and plant collector * Edna Loftus (1891–1916), British actress *

Frederick Low Frederick Ferdinand Low (June 30, 1828July 21, 1894) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the ninth governor of California from 1863 to 1867. He was previously a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1862 to ...

(1828–1894), Congressman, California Governor, statesman

M

Willie McCovey Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of ...

(1938–2018), Major League Baseball Hall of Famer *

Euthanasia Sherman Meade Euthanasia Sherman Meade (September 8, 1837 – November 1, 1895) was a pioneer woman physician of the Pacific Coast. Meade was the first president of The Woman's Medical Club of California. Early life Euthanasia Sherman was born on September ...

(1836–1895), first president of The Woman's Medical Club of California *

Addison Mizner Addison Cairns Mizner ( ) (December 12, 1872 – February 5, 1933) was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival style interpret ...

(1872–1933), architect *

Tom Mooney Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 – March 6, 1942) was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that M ...

(1882–1942),

Wobblie The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

, political prisoner * William W. Morrow (1843–1929), U.S. Congressman,

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

incorporator * James Murdock (1931–1981), American film and television actor

N

James Van Ness James Van Ness (1808 – December 28, 1872) was an American politician who served as the 6th mayor of San Francisco from 1855 to 1856. Early life and education James Van Ness was born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1808. The son of Dutch-American ...

(1808–1872), 7th Mayor of San Francisco

O

(1897–1969), Major League Baseball player *

Betty Ong Betty Ann Ong (February 5, 1956 - September 11, 2001) was an American Airlines flight attendant who was onboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first airplane hijacked during the September 11 attacks. Ong was the first person to alert authoritie ...

(1956–2001),

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

victim

P

Orrin Peck Orrin M. Peck (April 13, 1860 – January 20, 1921) was an American painter. He was known for his landscape and portrait oil paintings. Peck was active in San Francisco; London, England; and Munich, Germany. Early life and education Orrin M. Pe ...

(1860–1921), painter *

Joel Samuel Polack Joel Samuel Polack (28 March 1807 – 17 April 1882) was an English-born New Zealand and American businessman and writer. He was one of the first Jewish settlers in New Zealand, arriving in 1831. He is regarded as an authority on pre-colonial Ne ...

(1807–1882), trader, land speculator, writer and artist in pre-colonial New Zealand * Grace Gimmini Potts (1886–1956), author and director of pageants

R

Alvino Rey Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader. Career Alvin McBurney was born in Oakland, California, United States, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Early i ...

(1908–1980), jazz guitarist and bandleader''Connections in Swing''
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S

* Calvin E. Simmons (1950–1982), musical prodigy, conductor, musician *

Jack Spicer Jack Spicer (January 30, 1925 – August 17, 1965) was an American poet often identified with the San Francisco Renaissance. In 2009, ''My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer'' won the American Book Award for poetry. ...

(1925–1965), poet *

Adolph B. Spreckels Adolph Bernard Spreckels (January 5, 1857 – June 28, 1924) was a California businessman who ran the Spreckels Sugar Company and who donated the California Palace of the Legion of Honor art museum to the city of San Francisco in 1924. His wife, ...

(1857-1924), industrialist *

Alma de Bretteville Spreckels Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (March 24, 1881 – August 7, 1968) was a wealthy socialite and philanthropist in San Francisco, California. She was known both as "Big Alma" (she was tall) and "The Great Grandmother of San Francisco". Among her ma ...

(1881-1968), philanthropist *

Claus Spreckels Claus Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) was a German-born American industrialist in California and Hawaii, during the Kingdom of Hawaii, kingdom and Republic of Hawaii, republican periods of the islands' history. He founded or was i ...

(1828-1908), industrialist *

Lincoln Steffens Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...

(1866–1936), ''

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'' magazine writer,

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journalist *

Charlie Sweeney Charles Joseph Sweeney (April 13, 1863 – April 4, 1902) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher from 1883 through 1887. He played for the Providence Grays, St. Louis Maroons, and Cleveland Blues, and is best known for his performance in ...

(1863–1902), Major League Baseball player

T

David S. Terry David Smith Terry (March 8, 1823 – August 14, 1889) was an American politician and jurist who served as the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court of California; he was an author of the state's 1879 Constitution. Terry killed U.S. Se ...

(1823–1889), American judge of the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

and politician

V

Walter Varney Walter Thomas Varney (December 26, 1888 – January 25, 1967) which combined under United Continental Holdings in 2010, long after his death in 1967. Varney was also one of the most prominent airmail contractors of the early 20th century. Varne ...

(1888–1967), Founder of predecessors of

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and

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

References

External links

*
Cypress Lawn Heritage Museum

* {{Authority control Cemeteries in San Mateo County, California Colma, California History of San Mateo County, California 1892 establishments in California Rural cemeteries Cemeteries established in the 1890s

History

Site

Notable burials

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See also

References

External links