LAST -- Burial At Yorba Cemetery - Yorba Linda, CA - Last of its Kind on Waymarking.com

The plaque says, "In 1858, Bernardo Yorba deeded this parcel to the Catholic Church for a cemetery. More than 150 years later, Yorba Cemetery continues to offer a glimpse into Orange County's early rancho days. Long before freeways and housing tracts defined the landscape, Yorba had claimed this land. His Rancho Cañon de Santa Ana became a base of operations for cattle ranching and farming. His large adobe hacienda became the center of activity for those who called the rancho home.

In this cemetery, headstones and grave markers pay tribute to Bernardo Yorba's family and neighbors. It is the final resting place for elders and infants, farmers and ranch hands, a midwife and mason, and others who were connected to this land by birth, marriage, or employment. Over 400 people are buried here- their lives documented in stone or timber. In a cemetery, history is revealed quietly.

The Yorba family's roots run deep in Orange County. Bernardo Yorba was the son of José Antonio Yorba, a soldier who accompanied Gaspar de Portolá on his Alta California expedition in 1769-1770. Descendants of Bernardo Yorba still live in Orange County.

Yorba Cemetery is one of the oldest private cemeteries in Orange County. The last burial took place in 1939.

[sidebars] In the 1890s, a wooden San Antonio Chapel replaced the original adobe church under construction when Bernardo Yorba died.

At one time, the Yorba Hacienda (1835) was one of the finest and largest adobe houses in Alta California.

Several of the grave sites were once defined with elaborate fencing.

Capturing the view toward the hills and away from the freeway, this photograph shows how largely undeveloped this land was in the 1960s.

Black and white photographs provided by Bowers Museum and the County of Orange"

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