San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home - San Francisco CA - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

From Wikipedia

"The San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home is a columbarium (repository for human ashes) owned and operated by Dignity Memorial, located at One Loraine Court, near Stanyan and Anza Streets, just north of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Built in 1898 by architect Bernard J.S. Cahill, the copper-domed Columbarium is an example of neoclassical architecture. It is the only non-denominational burial place within San Francisco's city limits that is open to the public and has space available.

History
The Columbarium was once part of the Odd Fellows Cemetery, which encompassed approximately 30 acres (12 ha). It was built to complement an existing crematorium designed by Cahill in 1895.

In 1902 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors prohibited further burials within the city. By late 1910, cremation was also prohibited. The Odd Fellows, forced to abandon their cemetery, established Green Lawn Cemetery in Colma. Transfer of bodies began in 1929 and many families also chose to remove their urns from the Columbarium. The crematorium and various mausoleums were demolished. Many of the headstones were re-used to build a seawall at Aquatic Park. The Columbarium remained, as well as interments below ground that were missed during exhumation, such as the mummified body of two-year-old Edith Howard Cook found in 2016.

After a time, the Columbarium was sold to the Bay Cities Cemetery Association and later to Cypress Abbey. As it passed from one organization to another it fell into disrepair. In 1980, the Neptune Society of Northern California bought it and began restoration. Among others, Emmitt Watson was hired by the Neptune Society as a painter but became the primary restorer of the building and functions as de facto tour guide to this day.

On March 3, 1996, the building was added to the register of San Francisco Designated Landmarks."

(visit link)

Wikipedia Url: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log to this waymark you need to visit and write about the actual physical location. Any pictures you take at the location would be great, as well.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   09/22/2024 Don.Morfe visited it