Verdugo Hills Cemetery facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Verdugo Hills of Peace Pioneer Cemetery |
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| Location | 7000 Parsons Trail, Tujunga, California |
| Built | 1922 |
| Designated | 2009 |
| Reference no. | 948 |
The Verdugo Hills of Peace Pioneer Cemetery, also known as Verdugo Hills Cemetery, is a historic burial ground in Tujunga, California. It first opened in 1922 and was closed in 1976. This cemetery is a special place that tells us about the early days of the Tujunga community.
History of Verdugo Hills Cemetery
The Verdugo Hills Cemetery is about four acres in size. It was started by a man named Marshall Valentine Hartranft. He also founded the community of Tujunga, which he imagined as a "utopian" place. This means he hoped it would be a perfect and ideal community for people to live in.
The cemetery is on a hillside, offering amazing views of the San Fernando Valley. Many of the first people who lived in Tujunga are buried here. The cemetery also has several unique types of trees growing there.
By the early 1970s, the cemetery was not being taken care of very well. It had fallen into "disrepair," meaning it was damaged and neglected. Because of this, it lost its official license to operate in 1976.
Landslide Event in 1978
On February 10, 1978, something major happened at the cemetery. After many days of very heavy rain, a huge landslide occurred. This happened in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills, right above Tujunga.
The ground became very soft because of all the rain. Small holes made by gophers allowed even more water to soak into the earth. When the hillside finally gave way, a large part of the cemetery was affected. Some old, rotted caskets broke open, and their contents were unfortunately carried away by the moving earth.
It was a very difficult job to try and identify the remains and rebury them in their correct spots. This challenging task was even written about in a book called Coroner by Thomas Noguchi. The City of Los Angeles worked to fix the cemetery grounds. However, more heavy rain in 1980 caused even more problems, unearthing more remains.
Restoring the Cemetery
Today, a group of volunteers called Friends of Verdugo Hills Cemetery are working hard to bring the cemetery back to its original state. They volunteer on the third Saturday of every month. Their goal is to renew and restore this important historical site for the community.
