Entry No. 31 — the San Francisco file — filed under: cemetery

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

Founded in 1892 as San Francisco emptied its city cemeteries into this Peninsula town, Cypress Lawn is 148 acres of Gilded Age excess: a Mission Revival gate, a 1921 public mausoleum with catacombs designed by Bernard Cahill (the same architect behind SF's Columbarium), and a mound holding remains relocated from the old Lone Mountain Cemetery complex, marked with a 1993 obelisk. William Randolph Hearst and Willie McCovey are both buried here.

The move: Take the cemetery's self-guided arboretum walk past century-old Monterey cypress and the stained-glass-lit catacombs of the public mausoleum, then find the Lone Mountain relocation obelisk and talk about the 150,000 bodies San Francisco quietly moved out of the city between 1920 and 1941.

• 📍 Colma, CA
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 1370 El Camino Real, Colma, CA 94014

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Wikipedia · Official site

last checked: 2026-07-20