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Guide to the Hillcrest-Mission Hills Improvement Association Calvary Cemetery / Pioneer Park Collection
MS 176
MS 176
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Table of contents
Title: Hillcrest-Mission Hills Improvement Association Calvary Cemetery / Pioneer Park Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS 176
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1969-1970
Date (inclusive): 1869-1977
Abstract: This collection contains information on the history and inhabitants of Calvary Cemetery and its transformation into Pioneer
Park, compiled by the Hillcrest-Mission Hills Improvement Association.
creator:
Hillcrest-Mission Hills Improvement Association.
Biographical / Historical Notes
In 1874, the city of San Diego purchased land with the intended purpose of creating a cemetery, half of which to be designated
for a Catholic cemetery and half for a Protestant cemetery. The Protestant half was never utilized, while the first Catholic
burial took place in 1875. Burials took place at a regular rate up until 1919 when the Holy Cross Cemetery was opened and
became the more popular location. Without much church or city attention, the cemetery fell into disrepair. In 1931 the idea
of turning the place into a park was floated and the debate began between preserving the cemetery and protecting those entombed,
and re-developing the cemetery and protecting the neighborhood from the eyesore the cemetery had become.
In 1938 the city of San Diego sponsored a rehabilitation project to restore the cemetery. They petitioned and won federal
aid for the project in the form of WPA funds and workers. In 1939 the cemetery was rededicated and a new marker was unveiled
dedicating the site to San Diego pioneers and officially naming the place Calvary Cemetery (it was previously referred to
as the new Catholic cemetery, until 1919, and then the old Catholic cemetery).
A caretaker was employed by the city from 1941 to 1949, but the job proved too large and the cemetery slowly began to fall
back into disrepair. The last burial took place in 1960, and in 1961 the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department
submitted a request for a development project to be scheduled for 1966-1967 to transform the site into a park. This first
official project was deferred as other projects were considered more urgent. It was at this point that the Hillcrest-Mission
Hills Improvement Association became actively involved with the project.
The Association formed to advise the City of San Diego with regard to the retention of the monuments and headstones within
the park at Calvary Cemetery. In the two years that followed (1969-1970) debate continued between city officials, association
members, and the community at large as to the development plan for the transformation. The Improvement Association researched
the history of the cemetery as well as the current state of the headstones and the stories of those mentioned on the headstones.
The research was very influential towards the eventual compromise that led to the final development plan for the park. In
the end some headstones were restored and left in the park, others were moved within the park to a designated area and still
others were removed to Mount Hope Cemetery or to city storage.
The park itself was officially dedicated as Pioneer Park in 1977.
This collection contains information on the history and inhabitants of Calvary Cemetery and its transformation into Pioneer
Park, compiled by the Hillcrest-Mission Hills Improvement Association. This includes newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence
and records compiled by the Association during official discussions of whether to convert the cemetery into a park, and plans,
blueprints, and official bids from contractors. Additional research includes headstone counts, lot maps, and copies from mortuary
records, as well as biographical reports written by college students about the individuals on certain headstones.
This collection is arranged in two series:
Series I: Calvary Cemetery History;
Series II: Pioneer Park Development.
Hillcrest-Mission Hills Improvement Association Calvary Cemetery / Pioneer Park Collection, MS 176, San Diego History Center
Document Archives, San Diego, CA.
This collection is open for research.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
There are a few original letters, the original city contract plan and bid packet. Most of the collection contains photocopies
on acid-free paper.
Research reports on a few of the deceased are included in the collection. The reports were done by Sister McShane’s History
188 class and the University of San Diego in Spring of 1970.
Reports were originally grouped by student, but the reports have been deconstructed and placed in alphabetical order by name
of deceased. The inventory file contains a complete list of students and who they researched, as well as copies of their title
pages and bibliographies, in case any discrepancies arise in footnote citations within the individual reports.
NAMES OF DECEASED WITH INDIVIDUAL REPORTS: (see folders 3-6)
Loretto Agundes
Alvarado O. De Alvarado (Rudecinda Osuna De Alvarado)
Matilda (Kerren) Anderson)
John Angel
Maria De Arenas
Luz (Maria de la Luz Osuna) Arguello
Rev. Henry J. Baert
Constranza Barba
Jeremiah (Jerry) Barrett
Mary Jane Barry
Fortunato Bernardini
Fannie Bouley Berrie
Agnes Bogan
Leo P. Bogan
Enriqueta C. Boullet
Anna Catherine Bouvier
Josephine Bovero
Peter S. Brajkovich
Maria Brizzolari
Claudia Losa Brown
Marco Bruschi
Frank Cabral
Manuel Cabral
Juan Camacho
James Carr
Enrique Carrillo
Juana Castillo
Daniel Cavanaugh
James Clark
John Clinton
Mary H. Colton
Harriet (Vandergrift) Connors
Paul S. Connors
Felicita Contreres
Jose Maria Contreres
John C. Conway
José Cota
Mrs. Rufina Cota
Cave Couts
Cave Johnson Couts Jr.
Refugio A. Couts
Charles J. Crammer
Theodore Cummings
Mary Cusick
Michel Daney
Louisa Delfino
Juan Delgado
Nicola Delia
Joseph Dini
John Donnelly
Albert Dorval
John Benjamin Dorval
Juan Drew
Mary T. Eagan
Thomas Eagan
Antonio(a) Erro
Bernardo Ervenelberg
Jeremiah Feeley
Col. Manuel Ferrer
Rosario Ferrer
William C. Flint
Angelina Ghio
Michael Ghio
Stephen Ghio
Patrick Glenn
Mary J. Golden
Tiodoro Golio
Francisca Gonzales
Harry Gottesburen
William Charles Greenleaf
James Richard Hanrahan
William T. Hanrahan Garrett
Joseph Heneberry
August Hennequin
Mary Herlihy
Gertrudis Arguello Hubbard
William Hume
Gladys Gooch Irwin
August Jaussard
Catherine Journey
Bridget Kelly
Luke Kelly
James Kerran
John W. Kerren
Mary Jane Kerren
William M. Kerren
James Kincade
Mrs. James Grennan Kincade
Peter Koster
Paul Mere Laderoot
Rev. Joseph M. LeCerf
Dolores Vidal (Marron) de Lamas
Louis Lopez
Mary Jesus Machado
Rose Kenniston Manasse
Thomas Manley
Fred Edgar Manning
Bertha Markinka
Timothy McCarthy
Isabella H. McCann (McGann)
Vina McGrisken
James McMorrow
John McMorrow
Maria McMorrow
John (Jeremiah) McNamara
Katherine Medeiros
Senovia Melendres (Meledrez)
Frederick Mohr
Juana M. Montes
Elvira De Montijo
Julia F. Morgan
Dorcas Cott Moss
John Mosto
Francis D. Murtha
Anna Louise Nerney
Mary Elizabeth Nerney
Margareta Agness Nevius
Thomas Walter O’Brien
Maria de Ochoa
Andrew P. O’Connor
Carlos D. Olvera
Peter O’Malley
John P. O’Neill
Lorenza O’Neill
Rev. Luciano Osuna
Hipolito Pardo
Dorinda Poderta
Katherine (Catherine) Purcell
Peter Ricard
Jesusita Romero
Santana Romero
Mary W. Rooney
Victoria Ruhlofs
Daniel Sallay
Laura Savin
Thomas Scally
Lily Bell Schrader
James J. Serrano
John Serrano
Luis A. Serrano
Victoriane Saucede
Michael Serrano
William Brayant Spohn
Serafina Stewart Serrano
Angelo Joseph Smith
James Stewart
Dr. Thomas Kerrins Smith
Henry W. Spencer
Frank Javial Stewart
Frank Stewart
J. B. Stewart
J. M. Stewart
John C. (Jack) Stewart
Maggie Stewart
Mary J. E. Stewart
John, Nellie, Clara Summers
Carlo Tonini
Sire Tonini
Michael J. Tracy
Maria de Verdusco
Francis P. Walsh
Mary E. Wallace
Ellen D. Warnock
Wilhemine (Mary Ann) and Ida Flora Winter
Wyan E. Woolery
Collection processed by M. Johnson in June 2009 and Samantha Mills in January 2017.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Calvary Cemetery (San Diego, Calif.).
Catholic Cemetery..
Johnson, Saum & Noble Mortuary.
Pioneer Park (San Diego, Calif.).
San Diego County (Calif.). Parks and Recreation Dept..
Cemeteries -- California -- San Diego
Mission Hills (San Diego, Calif.)
San Diego (Calif.)