San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries: A Buried History
Out now from The History Press
Interviews, reviews and more on my press page.
About the book
San Francisco is famous for not having any cemeteries, but the claim isn’t exactly what it seems. In the early 20th Century, the city relocated more than 150,000 graves to the nearby town of Colma to make way for a rapidly growing population. But an estimated fifty to sixty thousand burials were quietly built over and forgotten, only to resurface every time a new building project began. The dead still lie beneath some of the city’s most cherished destinations, including the Legion of Honor, United Nations Plaza, the Asian Art Museum and the University of San Francisco. Join author Beth Winegarner as she maps the city's early burial grounds and brings back to life the dead who've been erased.
“Beth Winegarner’s book traces the history of San Francisco through its forgotten cemeteries: their beginnings, their relocations, and the bodies that often remain. I thought I knew my beloved city but I wasn’t looking deep enough – literally. Unique and eye-opening, I won’t be able to walk these San Francisco streets without wondering what may still be buried just underfoot." —Caroline Paul, author of New York Times bestseller The Gutsy Girl
“San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries is an act of restorative justice.” —Roberto Lovato, author of Unforgetting
Photos:
Top: The San Francisco Columbarium. Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Bottom: Lone Mountain Cemetery, viewed from Calvary Cemetery in 1866. Lawrence & Houseworth, publisher, Library of Congress
Past events
Video from “Forgotten Cemeteries” book launch at Green Apple Books on the Park, Aug. 29, 2023.
Video from “Grotto Nights” event, “Giving voice to the dead,” with Roberto Lovato, Sept. 5, 2023.