Evergreen Cemetery is a public cemetery located on Evergreen Street in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

and was established in the 1850s. Since 2008, the Evergreen Cemetery is under the management of the

Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) is a nonprofit educational institution and museum founded in 1996 and located in Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the count ...

(MAH).

About

The Evergreen Cemetery is built on 8 acres of land, and features wrought iron fences around some family grave sites. It is located near Harvey West Park. The cemetery is divided into five sections including 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 (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

; the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

; the main section; the "evergreen extension" added in the 1940s; and the Chinese section (due to the anti-Chinese sentiment, which led to the

Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a United States Code, United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for travelers an ...

of 1882). The Chinese section of the cemetery allowed for traditional Chinese funerals featuring firecrackers, processions and a Chinese oven-onsite for food served. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History oversaw the construction of a Chinese gate in 2014, to honor those buried. The Grand Army of the Republic section, was created by a fraternal organization of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

veterans honoring those who fought to end slavery and supported the Union. This cemetery is said to be haunted.

History

The land for Evergreen Cemetery was a gift from the Imus family. An early burial at this cemetery was a baby named Julia Arcan, who died in

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is thought to be the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth during summer. Death Valley's Badwat ...

in 1850. Some say the first burial was in 1858, when Harry Speel fell off a cliff at what is now called Cowell Beach. In 1955, there was a Christmas flood and it left the cemetery in poor shape, and over time the cemetery was overgrown with plants and toppled gravestones. In 1973, Renie Leaman led an effort to restore the cemetery.

Notable burials

* Isaac Graham (1800–1863),

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

mountain man A mountain man is an Geographical exploration, explorer who lives in the wilderness and makes his living from hunting, fishing and trapping. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s ...

, and land grantee. * Lucien Heath (1819–1888), farmer, merchant, and politician in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. * Hiram A. Imus Jr. (1804–1875), politician, member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

References

{{Authority control 1850 establishments in California Cemeteries in Santa Cruz County, California Chinese cemeteries Cemeteries established in the 1850s

About

History

Notable burials

See also

References