Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California)

Coordinates: 37°50′07″N 122°14′13″W / 37.83528°N 122.23694°W / 37.83528; -122.23694
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mountain View Cemetery
Millionaire's Row, Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California
Map
Details
Established1863
Location
CountryUnited States
Coordinates37°50′07″N 122°14′13″W / 37.83528°N 122.23694°W / 37.83528; -122.23694
TypeNonprofit
Size226 acres (91 ha)
No. of graves> 24,000
Websitewww.mountainviewcemetery.org
Find a GraveMountain View Cemetery

The Mountain View Cemetery is a 226-acre (91 ha)

UC Berkeley and Stanford University
.

Many of California's important historical figures, drawn by Olmsted's reputation, are buried here. There are many grandiose crypts in tribute to the wealthy, especially along the ridge section with a view across the Bay to the San Francisco skyline, known as "Millionaires' Row".[1] Because of this, and its beautiful setting, the cemetery is a tourist draw. Tours led by docents began in 1970.[2]

Design

Panoramic view from the rear of the cemetery, looking out across the San Francisco Bay

Olmsted's intent was to create a space that would express a harmony between humankind and the natural setting. In the view of 19th century

American Transcendentalism
, integrated Parisian grand monuments and broad avenues.

Adjoining Mountain View Cemetery is Saint Mary Cemetery and the Chapel of the Chimes mausoleum and columbarium.

Notable burials

View of the cemetery from Charles Crocker's tomb

There are many notable people interred in Mountain View; many are local figures in California history, but others have achieved wider fame.[3]

Politicians and government officials

Industrialists and business people

The statue above Domingo Ghirardelli's mausoleum.
The Crocker mausoleum on Millionaire's Row

Military

Thomas Hill's grave marker
The Miller Crypt pyramid.

Arts and culture

Local history

Other

David Hewes burial vault

In popular culture

Mountain View Cemetery is featured prominently in the 2018 film Blindspotting. Daveed Diggs's character is shown going there for morning runs, and an important scene happens in the cemetery where the character imagines Black victims of police brutality standing over the graves.[9]

In The Big Wake-Up, a 2009 crime novel by Mark Coggins, the main character in the book, a detective named August Riordan, discovers that Argentine first lady Eva Perón is not at rest in the Duarte family tomb in La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, but is actually buried in Mountain View Cemetery.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Andrew Chamings (March 2, 2020). "From the Black Dahlia to Mac Dre: The bodies of Mountain View". San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Abby Cohn (January 5, 2001). "They're 6 Feet Under, But Pioneers Draw Crowds to Oakland". San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. ^ "Famous People at Mountain View Cemetery - Comprehensive List". Mountain View Cemetery. Archived from the original on December 10, 2005.
  4. Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  5. ^ a b c d Matthews, Allen (December 7, 2020). "Beloved Oakland cemetery, resting place of Kaiser, Ghirardelli and Mac Dre, still off-limits to visitors". San Francisco Chronicle.
  6. ^ Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A. (1928). Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America. p. 59. Retrieved 8 August 2017.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2719634/LIPPI,%20JAMES%20RAYMOND CWGC Casualty Record.
  8. ^ "California, Oakland, Mountain View Cemetery Records, 1857–1973, Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland; FHL microfilm 008266227". FamilySearch.
  9. ^ "'Blindspotting' is a Spot-On Portrait of an Oakland in Flux". KQED. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  10. ^ "Evita Plays Oakland?". Southern Cone Travel. 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2020-03-17.

External links