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The History of the Union Cemetery
Men came to this area by 1851 to work
in the redwoods growing on the mountains above the San Francisco Peninsula. They also
worked in sawmills that cut and milled the lumber. Ox and mule teams brought the logs
and lumber to wharves built along Redwood Creek. The lumber was then rafted on the creek
out to the bay and taken to San Francisco and other lumber-starved towns that were being
built during the Gold Rush.
A small village began growing beside Redwood Creek to serve the booming lumber and
shipping industries. The settlement was first called Redwood Landing. When wives and
children came to settle here, it became necessary to have a permanent burial ground
for Redwood Landing, Searsville and other nearby new communities.
Union Cemetery was established in early 1859 when townsmen formed the Union
Cemetery Association to purchase the land, design the cemetery and sell burial
rights to plots. Not being an incorporated entity, the Association had the
property deeded to the then Governor of California and his successors in office
as trustees.
The Association operated from 1859 to 1918. However, this unique cemetery
ownership existed for more than 100 years. In 1962, the State of California
quit-claimed ownership in trust to the City of Redwood City.
Even though the Union Cemetery Association stopped operating in 1918,
the cemetery was still used by local undertakers. During the Depression,
many of San Mateo County's poor were placed here. Few burials occurred
between 1940 and 1960. The last was in 1963.
When the Union Cemetery Association became inactive in 1918, no
one assumed responsibility for the cemetery's care. Years of neglect
and vandalism took their toll. While there are more than 2,200 documented
burials, many graves are unmarked. Most of the redwood crosses, markers
and fences are gone. Many stones are cracked or lie broken on the ground.
The once elegant fences surrounding the burial plots are rusting away.
Click here for an original transcript of the Deed to Union Cemetery,
San Mateo County Recorder's Office.
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