Oak Hill Memorial Park

Oakhill Memorial Park is is the oldest secular cemetery in California, having been in constant use since 1839. In 1949 surveyors laid out 25 acres for a Protestant and Catholic cemetery with an additional four acres for a Potter's Field. In 1853 the Common (City) Council appointed two Protestants, two Catholics and two Jews to aid the County surveyor in selecting "enough ground with sufficient and separate space for each faith to bury its dead". By the end of 1958 the name Oak Hill Cemetery appears in City records and an ordinance was approved for its regulation. Many pioneers and prominent early citizens are buried on these lovely grounds.

Sometimes, in the summertime you can see peacocks on the grounds here. The rest of the year it seems to be harder to find them. My mother told me this was because there was a peacock farm behind the cemetary once, and the peacocks got out, but I never believed her. The peacocks however, are actually there and add a particular loveliness to this cemetary, and when they shed feathers you can tuck them into your bouquets that you are leaving for loved ones.