Sacramento Historic City Cemetery

The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery (or Old City Cemetery), located at 1000 Broadway, at 10th Street, is the oldest existing cemetery in Sacramento, California. It was designed to resemble a Victorian garden and sections that are not located in level areas are surrounded by brick or concrete retaining walls to create level terraces. The cemetery grounds are noted for their roses which are said to be among the finest in California. History The cemetery was established in 1849 when Sacramento founder John Augustus Sutter, Jr. donated 10 acres (4.0 ha) to the city for this purpose. The grounds were landscaped in the Victorian Garden style popular at the time. The New Helvetia Cemetery was founded in c. 1845 and was also prone to flooding, which would unbury the bodies from the earlier graves; as a result some of the burials from New Helvetia were reinterred to the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery starting as early as 1850. In 1850, some 600 victims of the Cholera epidemic that swept the city were buried in mass graves in City Cemetery. The remainder 800 victims claimed by the epidemic were buried in the nearby New Helvetia Cemetery, also in mass graves. In 1852, a monument was erected to those who died. However the exact location of the mass burial plot is not known. In 1856, the city engaged a cemetery superintendent and began to plan the grounds. In 1857, the gatehouse and bell tower were constructed. These were demolished in 1949 during the widening of Broadway. Several fraternal groups purchased sections for their members including the Masons (1859), Odd Fellows (1861) and the Sacramento Pioneers Association (1862). The city set aside a section for volunteer firemen in 1858 and members of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1878. The cemetery continued to acquire additional land through 1880 when Margaret Crocker, widow of Edwin B. Crocker, donated 23 acres (9.3 ha) to expand the grounds to 60 acres (24 ha) total. The City of Sacramento owns the cemetery, which today encompasses 44 acres (18 ha). It was declared a State Historic Landmark on May 5, 1957, by the State Historical Landmarks Commission. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. Notable burials These are some of the notable people interred in the cemetery: Hardin Bigelow – first directly elected Mayor of Sacramento Marion Biggs – US Representative John Bigler – third Governor of California and Minister to Chile Newton Booth – United States Senator & eleventh Governor of California John Chilton Burch – US Representative Amos P. Catlin – California State Legislator that wrote and carried the bill to make Sacramento the permanent capital of California Thomas Jefferson Clunie – US Representative George B. Cosby – Confederate State Army Brigader General Aimée Crocker – heiress daughter of Edwin B. Crocker Edwin B. Crocker – California Supreme Court Justice and founder of the Crocker Art Museum Jerome C. Davis – Pioneer rancher/farmer and namesake of Davis, California and UC Davis, which were built on his former land John W. Donnellan – 1st Treasurer of the Wyoming Territory Charles Duncombe – Member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, California State Assemblymember in Sacramento County and one of the first doctors in Sacramento James L. English – Mayor of Sacramento and California State Treasurer Newton T. Gould – Civil War soldier and Medal of Honor recipient William S. Hamilton – son of American founding father Alexander Hamilton. He died in Sacramento, most likely of cholera, in 1850. Frederick W. Hatch (clergy) – served as Chaplain of the United States Senate Frederick W. Hatch (physician) – early physician and educator Mark Hopkins Jr. – one of the Big Four & a founder of the Central Pacific Railroad William Irwin – thirteenth Governor of California Grove L. Johnson – US Representative and father of US Senator & Governor of California Hiram Johnson John F. Madden – US Army brigadier general Hugh C. Murray – California Supreme Court Justice Henry L. Nichols – Mayor of Sacramento and Secretary of State of California Levi Rackliffe – State Treasurer of California Benjamin B. Redding – Mayor of Sacramento, California State Assemblymember, Secretary of State of California and the namesake for the city of Redding, California Lebbeus Simkins – Civil War sailor and Medal of Honor recipient Royal T. Sprague – California State Senator and California Supreme Court Justice John Augustus Sutter Jr. – founder and planner of the City of Sacramento, US Consul in Acapulco, Mexico and son of John Augustus Sutter, Sr. Jabez Turner – Mayor of Sacramento A. A. H. Tuttle – California State Assemblymember, Secretary of State of California and the namesake of Tuttletown, California Edwin G. Waite – California State Assemblymember and Secretary of State of California Albert Maver Winn – first City Council of Sacramento and chosen as President (ex officio Mayor), California State Adjutant General and founder of the Native Sons of the Golden West Gen. George Wright – General in the Union Army of the American Civil War Lt. Thomas F. Wright – son of Gen. George Wright, was killed while fighting in the Modoc War See also New Helvetia Cemetery (active c. 1845 to 1912), the first cemetery in the city of Sacramento References External links Official website Sacramento Historic City Cemetery Database Project – a search tool to find people buried in the cemetery and other information on the deceased The Old City Cemetery Committee of Sacramento – non-profit committee that gives tours and information about the cemetery to raise money for headstone and cemetery restorations. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sacramento City Cemetery Sacramento Historic City Cemetery at Find a Grave