The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery (or Old City Cemetery), located at 1000 Broadway, at 10th Street, is the oldest existing cemetery in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. 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 to the city for this purpose.Sutter, John A., Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. 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 The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

in 1878. The cemetery continued to acquire additional land through 1880 when Margaret Crocker, widow of

Edwin B. Crocker Edwin Bryant Crocker (26 April 1818 – 24 June 1875) was a California Supreme Court Justice and founder of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California. Biography Crocker was born in Jamesville, New York to Isaac and Elizabeth Crocker. He e ...

, donated to expand the grounds to total. The City of Sacramento owns the cemetery, which today encompasses . 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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

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 Marion Biggs (May 2, 1823 – August 2, 1910) was an American slave owner and politician who served two terms as a United States representative from California from 1887 to 1891. Early life Marion Biggs was born on May 2, 1823, near Curryville ...

– US Representative * John Bigler – third Governor of California and Minister to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

* Newton Booth – United States Senator & Eleventh Governor of California *

John Chilton Burch John Chilton Burch (February 1, 1826 – August 31, 1885) was an American lawyer from California. He became a Democratic politician who served one term as a United States Congressman from 1859 to 1861. Biography Burch was born in Boone ...

– US Representative * Amos P. Catlin – California State Legislator that wrote and carried the bill to make Sacramento the permanent capital of

* Thomas Jefferson Clunie – US Representative * George B. Cosby – Confederate State Army Brigader General *

Aimée Crocker Aimée Isabella Crocker (December 5, 1864 – February 7, 1941) was an American princess, mystic, Bohemian, and author. She was known for her cultural exploration of the Far East, for her extravagant parties in San Francisco, New York and Paris, ...

– heiress daughter of

– California Supreme Court Justice and founder of the

Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...

* Jerome C. Davis – Pioneer rancher/farmer and namesake of

Davis, California Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Davi ...

and

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, which were built on his former land * John W. Donnellan – 1st Treasurer of the Wyoming Territory *

Charles Duncombe Charles Duncombe may refer to: *Charles Duncombe (English banker) (1648–1711), English banker, MP and Lord Mayor *Charles Duncombe, 1st Baron Feversham (1764–1841), English MP *Charles Duncombe (Upper Canada Rebellion) (1792–1867), American p ...

– Member of the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lie ...

, California State Assemblymember in Sacramento County and one of the first doctors in Sacramento * James L. English – Mayor of Sacramento and

California State Treasurer The state treasurer of California is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of California. Thirty-five individuals have held the office of state treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Fiona M ...

* Newton T. Gould – Civil War soldier and

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipient * William S. Hamilton – son of American founding father Alexander Hamilton. He died in Sacramento, most likely of cholera, in 1850. *

Frederick Winslow Hatch Frederick Winslow Hatch (August 1, 1789 – January 14, 1860) was an Episcopal clergyman who served as Chaplain of the Senate of the United States. Early years Frederick Winslow Hatch was born August 1, 1789, in Blandford, Massachusetts ...

– served as

Chaplain of the United States Senate The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appoi ...

Mark Hopkins Jr. Mark Hopkins Jr. (September 1, 1813 – March 29, 1878) was an American railroad executive. He was one of four principal investors that funded Theodore D. Judah's idea of building a railway over the Sierra Nevada from Sacramento, California ...

– 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 Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917. Johnson achieved national prominence in the early 20th century. He was elected in 191 ...

John F. Madden John Fitz Madden (March 30, 1870 – May 19, 1946) was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the U.S. response to the Garza Revolution, Spanish–American War, United States Military Government in Cuba, Philippine–American W ...

– US Army brigadier general * Hugh C. Murray – California Supreme Court Justice * Henry L. Nichols – Mayor of Sacramento and

Secretary of State of California The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeh ...

* Levi Rackliffe – State Treasurer of

* Benjamin B. Redding – Mayor of Sacramento, California State Assemblymember, Secretary of State of

and the namesake for the city of Redding, California * Lebbeus Simkins – Civil War sailor and

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 Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

in Acapulco,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and son of John Augustus Sutter, Sr. * Jabez Turner – Mayor of Sacramento * A. A. H. Tuttle – California State Assemblymember,

and the namesake of

Tuttletown, California Tuttletown (formerly, Mormon Gulch and Tuttleville) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tuolumne County, California, Tuolumne County, California. It is located on California State Route 49, State Route 49 near the California Gold Rush, gold rush ...

* Edwin G. Waite – California State Assemblymember and

* 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 The Native Sons of the Golden West is a fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation, documentation of historic structures and places in the state, the placement of historic ...

* Gen. George Wright – General in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

* Lt. Thomas F. Wright – son of Gen. George Wright, was killed while fighting in the

Modoc War The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873. Eadweard M ...

References

External links

*
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. ** Old website
Old City Cemetery Committee, Inc.

Cemetery Rose
– group that manages and preserves the Historic Rose Garden in the cemetery * * {{NRHP in Sacramento County, California Geography of Sacramento, California History of Sacramento, California California Historical Landmarks 1849 establishments in California Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in California Tourist attractions in Sacramento, California National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento, California Cemeteries in Sacramento County, California

History

Notable burials

See also

References

External links