Palomares Cemetery
To whom it may concern,
I am currently doing research on a family member by the name of Francisca Lopez Arvizu. I found that her grave is at the Palomares Cemetery by way of FindAGrave.com from a list that was done by a Mrs. Ethel Curtis in 1951 by the Pomona Valley Genealogical Society. However this list was entered in to the website by someone other than Mrs. Curtis (Sharyn Hay in 2005).
My question is, does this cemetery still exist? I've read that it might have been turned into a park. Also, if it is still in existence and some tombstones still remain, is the property closed off to the public? My main objective is to visit this site and get a photo of Francisca Lopez Arvizu's marker. Any information you can offer is greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance,
Lynelle
----------------------------------------------------------Lynelle, Most all of the tomb stones in the Palomares Cemetery are missing and have been for decades, since the 1970's. Some were moved to Holly Cross on S. Towne. The rest were vandalized. The property is owned by the Catholic Dioses. More than 15 years ago the Native Daughters of Calif. created an attractive entrance to the Cemetery with a sign and plaque that says Palomares Cemetery Park or something like that but the actual cemetery is the weedy field behind that area. The entrance is nice but unfortunately there is no place to park so it is hard to stop and look at it. There is no stopping on Towne Ave. The School District keeps trying to buy that property to enlarge the athletic fields at Pomona High and we keep having to explain it is not a vacant field but a cemetery. Our records are the same as what you looked at. Unfortunately all indications are that the marker for your relative no longer exist. But you never know what will turn up in the future. We got a marker last year for one of the Alvarados that had been in a garage in Hacienda Heights for over 20 years. It was there when the most recent owner bought the house. When they sold it last year, they made sure to bring it to us so it would be where it belonged. A local realator told me there is a house in west Pomona that she showed recently that has a marker for a Vejar in the flower bed in their back yard. She is trying to work with the realator who has the house listed to get the marker to the Palomares Adobe. I wish it was different for cemeteries in Southern Calif. I do not understand the desire to destroy them. Other parts of the US have secluded cemeteries hundreds of years old. We do not know what we can do about it short of paying 24 hour guards and we cannot afford that. Mickey Gallivan
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Upon finding and calling Holly Cross, a nice woman there looked and called me back. She said she couldn't find any records of Francisca being buried or re-buried there but she did look in a date book from the Priest who presided over the funeral. The information in this book goes as follows:
"Francisca Arvizu, Native of Oposura Mexico, lived in Azusa. Daughter of Filemeno Lopez and Susana Murrieta. 50 years old. Father fisher performed ("all sorts of) rights."
Ok...one thing here...50 years old?! So it's not possible for her to have been born in 1861 and be 50 in 1898. So which records are wrong and which are right?
I think I still plan on going to the Palomares Cemetery and see whats there. There is a plaque with names on it. I'm sure she's on it but that's not what I'm looking for.
Hi Lynette,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your page looking for info on the same cemetery...I went to highschool in the 80's at Pomona High School, there was no marker for Palomares Cemetary then, but it was well known that the school was rebuilt on top of the cemetery when the original Pomona burned down. The original was located on Garey Ave. I spent much time walking thru the field as a teen and never saw any remains of a grave yard and thought it was just a rumor, until I went back to visit the school recently and saw the marker.
We were always told that the reason behind our mascot being called "The Red Devils" was because our school was on an old cemetery..the mascot has been changed a few times since then..it was an Indian for a brief time and now is "The Champions"
I hope that bit of info helps...
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
ReplyDeleteYes that does help out a lot. Thanks for your information, I appreciate it :)
Lynette,
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps. I too was looking for info on the Palomares Cemetery. It shows that she is burried there, but since thered are no markers there was no way to find exactly were she is located. there is a plaque with her name on it. I posted the link. Also just to clarify they only moved a couple of people and that was at the request of family members since some gravestones were being vandelized. Pomona high school IS NOT built on top of the cemetery but smack dab next to it. I hope this link helps.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=8252&GRid=11278541&
Was doing geneoloby for family members buried in the Palomares Cemetery - got a lot of info about it that may help you in your search
ReplyDeleteFirst, there is a plaque there listing 100+ who were buried there
Second, there is a list generated in 1952, published in 1970
which may or may not correlate to the plaque
Third, it appars that many in the cemetary were moved
when the 'new' Pamona HS was built after the 'old' one burnt down... date unknown, but seems to be post 1935 and maybe post WW-II or even early 1950s.
Go the findfrave site @ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=8252
upper right has 'view all internments'
click
find whoever you are looking for
click
it has the 1952 source, published in 1970
by Pamona Historical Society
The same site has a photo of the plaque
place there in the 1970s
about who was there
and was moved
... the problem is that nobody know
where each of the graves was moved
some went to the Calvary Cemetary in LA
others are unknown