Woodlawn Memorial Park (Colma, California)

Woodlawn Memorial Park, also known as the Masonic Burial Ground, is a cemetery located at 1000 El Camino Real in Colma, California. It was established in 1905.

History

The Masonic Grand Lodge of California laid the cornerstone for the cemetery during a ceremony held on October 29, 1904, at a site formerly used as the Seven Mile House on the stagecoach route linking San Francisco and San Jose. The entrance to the cemetery is marked by two prominent arches; T. Paterson Ross was responsible for designing the original entry arch, which was built with blue granite blocks quarried from Raymond, California. A second arch was added in the 1930s alongside administrative offices, a columbarium, mausoleum, and chapel, designed by William G. Merchant and Bernard Maybeck.

When the former Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco closed around 1935, approximately 40,000 remains were moved to this cemetery in a project that spanned many years. The Masonic Cemetery Association erected a memorial pillar in April 1933 to honor those moved.

Notable burials

• Alex Anderson (1920–2010), cartoonist who created the characters of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Bullwinkle, and Dudley Do-Right, as well as Crusader Rabbit.
• Humbert Allen Astredo (1929–2016), stage, film, and television actor; was part of the cast of the television series. Dark Shadows (1968–1971).
• Thomas Henry Blythe (1822–1883), capitalist, tycoon, property developer.
• Henry Clausen (1905–1992), lawyer, investigator; authored the Clausen Report.
• Aylett R. Cotton (1826–1912), politician, lawyer, judge, educator and miner.
• Laura Fair (1837–1919), murderer; with a notable court case due to gender.
• Etienne Guittard (1838–1899), founder of the oldest continuously family-owned chocolate company, Guittard Chocolate Company.
• Warren Hinckle (1938-2016), American political journalist, muckraker, editor, and author.
• James Augustus Johnson (1829–1896), politician; 14th Lieutenant Governor of California.
• Charles H. Larrabee (1820–1883), politician; member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin for the 36th Congress (1859 to 1860); his grave was moved from the Masonic Cemetery, San Francisco.
• Robert L. Lippert (1909–1976), film producer and cinema chain owner.
• Henry Miller (1827–1916), rancher who founded the cattle firm, Miller and Lux.
• Jacob H. Neff (1830–1909), politician, served as the 22nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1899 to 1903.
• Emperor Norton (1819–1880), real name Joshua Abraham Norton, self-proclaimed Emperor of the United States; his grave was moved from the Masonic Cemetery, San Francisco in 1934.
• José Sarria (1922–2013), LGBT political activist, who styled himself as "The Widow Norton".

See also

• List of cemeteries in California

References