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Evergreen Cemetery (Santa Cruz, California)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Evergreen Cemetery is a public cemetery located on Evergreen Street in Santa Cruz, California and was established in the 1850s.[1] Since 2008, the Evergreen Cemetery is under the management of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH).[2]
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About
The Evergreen Cemetery is built on 8 acres of land, and features wrought iron fences around some family grave sites.[3] It is located near Harvey West Park.
The cemetery is divided into five sections including the Grand Army of the Republic; the Freemasons; 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 of 1882).[3] The Chinese section of the cemetery allowed for traditional Chinese funerals featuring firecrackers, processions and a Chinese oven-onsite for food served.[1] The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History oversaw the construction of a Chinese gate in 2014, to honor those buried.[4] The Grand Army of the Republic section, was created by a fraternal organization of the American Civil War veterans honoring those who fought to end slavery and supported the Union.[1]
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History
The land for Evergreen Cemetery was a gift from the Imus family.[7] An early burial at this cemetery was a baby named Julia Arcan, who died in Death Valley in 1850.[5] Some say the first burial was in 1858, when Harry Speel fell off a cliff at what is now called Cowell Beach.[3][7]
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.[1][8] In 1973, Renie Leaman led an effort to restore the cemetery.[1]
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Notable burials
- Isaac Graham (1800–1863), fur trader, mountain man, and land grantee.
- Lucien Heath (1819–1888), farmer, merchant, and politician in Oregon.[9]
- Hiram A. Imus Jr. (1804–1875), politician, member of the California State Assembly.[10]
See also
References
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