Pioneer Park, also known as Mission Hills Park, is a public park in the Mission Hills neighborhood of San Diego, California. Originally established in 1876 as Calvary Cemetery, it served as a Catholic burial ground. The cemetery was converted into a park in 1968, with most headstones removed, but over 800 bodies remain buried beneath the grounds.
Calvary Cemetery was the second Catholic cemetery in San Diego, dating back to when the city had a population of only 250. The first was El Campo Santo cemetery in Old Town. When it began to fill up, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego purchased the land, atop Pringle Hill in the Mission Hills neighborhood, from the city in October 1873. The cemetery was formally established in 1876. For the years when it was in operation, it provided burial grounds primarily for Catholic residents of San Diego.
Following the opening of Holy Cross Cemetery opened in 1919, Calvary Cemetery began to fall into disrepair. In 1939, the caretaker's building, containing many of the burial records, caught on fire. The records were lost. The cemetery remained active until the mid-20th century.
A state law passed in 1957 stated that cemeteries that endangered "the health, safety, comfort, or welfare of the public" and had less than 10 burials in the previous 5 years could be officially abandoned. As the cemetery had not been well-maintained and was frequently visited by vandals and motorcyclists, the city began the process of converting the cemetery into a park in 1961. By 1968, it was fully converted. The City of San Diego removed most of the headstones to Mount Hope Cemetery Despite the removal of most headstones, the remains of the cadavers are still beneath the grounds.
Features of the park include:
Several prominent individuals and families are interred at the site from its time as Calvary Cemetery. Among them are members of the Bandini family, known for their ownership of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant.