010 - All Things Victorian w/Victoriana Lady Lisa - Victorian Baking

Our latest from All Things Victorian w/Victoriana Lady Lisa - Victorian Baking.

Bay Area Cemetery Tours

Rose Hill Cemetery, 2001

Joe asked me a while ago if I'd guest blog here.  Hope this announcement fits the bill...

I spent last year's Nanowrimo working on a book about the historic cemeteries of the San Francisco Bay Area. I've visited a lot of them, but not nearly all, so I made myself a list of places I need to see. Ideally, I could find someone to give me a tour, show me the highlights, and ground my research for each one.

In early February, Annetta Black -- mastermind of the Obscura Society in San Francisco -- wrote to ask if I'd consider giving cemetery tours for the group.

I am qualified to lead cemetery wanders, but not tours. My knowledge of our local graveyards is broad, rather than deep. However, I would be thrilled to arrange tours for anyone interested in learning more about cemeteries -- and now I am.

This Sunday, March 23, the Obscura Society is touring one of my favorite local cemeteries: the Rose Hill Cemetery at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. This cemetery was almost completely obliterated by vandals and the well-intentioned preservation tactics of early park employees. It has been painstaking puzzled back together through the love and service of the more recent rangers and historians.

The cemetery is about all that survives of the five coal-mining ghost towns on the eastern slopes of Mount Diablo. It's a reminder of how different the past was from the present, even though it's barely 150 years distant.

Tickets are still available, if you'd like to explore for yourself. Here's the link: http://www.atlasobscura.com/events/obscura-society-sf-rose-hill-cemetery-tour

In April, we're going to explore Mare Island's ship-building history and the first naval cemetery on the West Coast. I'll let you know when those tickets are available.

Looking past the headstones at Alcatraz Island

Now I'm working on the May tour. I think we're looking at Memorial Day weekend, so it will be a tour closer in to San Francisco and Oakland. I was thinking maybe the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio, which will be pretty with all the graves decorated with flags.

In the works are tours of St. John's Cemetery in San Mateo, the Rural Cemetery in Santa Rosa, and a walking tour of the vanished cemeteries of San Francisco. I'm going to lead that one myself.

Is there anywhere you've been particularly interested in touring? Any Bay Area graveyard that caught your eye that you'd like to know more about?

Call for writers and contributors

There is no doubt that this page has been in limbo for awhile.  It was once a great place to come and get a story and we had regular contributors.  We understand that life gets in the way sometimes and we all get busy.  If you do any cemetery exploring, write about cemeteries, are in to genealogy or have any other contributions you'd like to make to this page please feel free to contact me and we'll see about making you a page author.  Keep in mind any pictures you share must be your own or you must have permission from the artist prior to use.  Anything that gets posted here automatically gets posted to our Facebook page which is nearing 5000 members.  Once I get settled I plan to regularly begin contributing again...Thanks for your help and keep exploring...

Gone but not Forgotten

http://www.calgaryherald.com/forgotten+souls+Taylor+Cemetery/5740080/story.html

Marie Holmes - Lady of the Night

In the lovely city of Santa Cruz, CA stands the Evergreen Historic Cemetery where many California pioneers and prominent citizens in Santa Cruz history are buried. Amidst those people lies a small grave I came across strictly by chance. I happened to notice a film tube sitting next to wall containing a list of several names who had found the tube. A geocache if you will. Geocaching is a hide and seek game played with tiny containers or trinkets and GPS systems where coordinates are given and it is your job to find whatever item is left in that location. I found this strictly by chance and was not there for geocaching. Next to the geocache I noticed a plaque on a grave. The grave of Marie Holmes. I will not go into detail about who she was or the circumstances surrounding her death because there is already and excellent writeup on her on the Santa Cruz County Website (click here) . After doing a little reading on the area it seems that houses of "Ill-Repute" were all over the area. Women would come from all over the area to find that the opportunities they thought were there were not really going to come to fruition so they'd be forced to turn to prostitution for what little money they could get. It turns out that prostitution was so rampant that several books were written on the area and it's ties to prostitution. On my next trip out I will try and document some of these older areas where the houses once stood.






Lady of the Night
Here lie the remains of Marie Holmes a lady of the night who on the evening of May 5, 1898, met a lonely and untimely end with the quaffing of carbolic acid. Born in England she resided in San Francisco, Salinas and Watsonville before spending her last few months in Santa Cruz, where she died in the streets outside the Merrill Brothers Saloon.

Dedicated September 18, 1997
The Museum of Art and History Santa Cruz


So yes people this is my return to blogging and I apologize for the lack of updates for a while. Truth is I've been working on other projects such as my website and basically just getting through every day life. I'm not sure how often this site will be updated but please follow this blog because it will definitely be updated more often from now on just not as often as before. You can always find me on Facebook if you really want to. As for the other authors Jeane has written a few books since the last time she wrote. Darkowho was an occasional author has published a couple cemetery books. And Becky has been busy with every day life as well. Thank you all for your support...

William French

This is a memorial for William French who lost his life on 13th July 1896 by saving a dog from drowning in Highgate Ponds North London. The dog survived, alas Mr French did not. The monument was erected in St Pancras and Islington Cemetery in commemoration of his brave deed and paid for by public subscription.

Wednesday's Child -Stevenson Children

Keith and Keitha Stevenson, 1924
Angels Forever