Much of a town's past is preserved in its residents' final resting place. Needing to be in our State's Capital today was the perfect catalyst for us to explore this unbelievable place, right in the heart of the city.
Adorned with beautiful statues, dramatic markers and lush gardens, Sacramento Historic City Cemetery is an outdoor museum recording California history from the Gold Rush Era through today.
The Sacramento City Cemetery was established in 1849, with a donation of 10 acres by Captain John Sutter. The cemetery follows the Victorian Garden style, popular throughout the mid and late 1800's.
Traversed by pathways and grand avenues, the cemetery provides a park-like setting for exploring history.
Among the first interments in the City Cemetery were over 600 victims of the 1850 Cholera Epidemic. Today, the Old City Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 25,000 pioneers, immigrants, their families and descendants. Among the more notable are Captain John A. Sutter, Jr., Sacramento city founder; lawyer and art collector E. B. Crocker; storekeeper turned railroad mogul Mark Hopkins (his massive tomb is above); William Stephen Hamilton, the son of Alexander Hamilton; three California governors and many of Sacramento's earliest mayors. It truly is like walking in a history museum.
We explored but a small fraction of the 44 acres. We have promised to return to learn more about those that came before us... what a perfect place and day for a history lesson.
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1 comments:
Wow. GORGEOUS! I love cemeteries, as you know.
The people buried there will forever be a part of history.
The flowers with the gravestones are really beautiful.
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