Union Cemetery, Redwood City

This historic cemetery was established in Redwood City in 1859 by the Union Cemetery Association and covers over six acres in a triangular lot west of Woodside Road, south of El Camino Real. The cemetery was fenced in during the summer of 1859, and family plots and individual gravesites were offered for sale. The Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans of the Civil War, purchased a section of the cemetery, as did other fraternal organizations. The last interment in the cemetery was in 1963 and approximately two thousand souls have been laid to rest here. Union Cemetery became a California Historical Landmark in 1966 and a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1983.

Redwood City was founded in the 1850s. Early burials were on a plot of land (near El Camino Real and Broadway) that later was purchased by Horace Hawes, who wanted the burials removed. Hawes provided the town matching funds to create a new burial location where the graves could be relocated. The Union Cemetery Association was established in 1859 to create a town cemetery. The first president was local storekeeper John Vinton Diller. The Association purchased a 6.4-acre triangular tract of rural land near "Five Points" - south of El Camino Real and west of Woodside Rd. on March 15th, 1859; the price paid to James Berry and Curtis and Rachel J. Baird was $500. The land was deeded to the state governor in trust for the Union Cemetery Associations.

The Union Cemetery Association solicited bids in late May 1859 for building a fence around the Union Cemetery grounds, with materials to be furnished by the contractor and work to be completed by August 1st. By early July, contractor George E. Erskine Esq. and Captain Beal were at work, building a "good and substantial fence." Once they were finished, the cemetery was staked off, with "lots ready for distribution and sale." Preliminary plans showed plots for 194 "family lots, all of good size, and public ground sufficient for over four hundred graves." Original lot prices ranged from ten to twenty-five dollars, depending on size. The original entrance gate was at the north end of the cemetery. The association made a new rule in 1873 that no burials were allowed in a private plot until the plot was paid for. George H. Rice became president of the Association in 1879.

Several fraternal organizations purchased sections of the cemetery for burial of their members. The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), an organization of Union veterans of the Civil War, had nearly a half million members across the country by the late 1880s. The G.A.R. purchased a roughly 640-square-foot portion of the cemetery which became the focus of local Memorial Day (or "Decoration Day") remembrances. A new monument was unveiled in a ceremony at the G.A. R. burial plots at Union Cemetery in May 1889 on Memorial Day. The monument was a pot-metal statue of a Civil War soldier on top of an inscribed pedestal that read: "To the Memory of California's Patriotic Dead who served during the War for the Union." The veterans' graves were covered in wreaths or bouquets of fresh flowers, gathered from around the region. The town celebrated Memorial Day in 1896 by gathering at the Alhambra Theater for speeches and musical tributes and then parading from Main Street to the cemetery for a memorial ceremony and decoration of graves at the G.A.R. plots. Local firemen, the Redwood Cadets, G.A.R. veterans, Woman's Relief Corps, and schoolchildren marched to the cemetery, followed by citizens in carriages. Afterwards, the veterans and their guests gathered at the Odd Fellows' Hall for refreshments and "singing the old war songs." When the process was repeated in May 1912, only eight members of the George S. Evans Post of the G.A.R. were left locally to take place, but the procession included the Sons of Veterans, Relief Corps, and schoolchildren. The American Legion took over the role of organizing Memorial Day commemorations later in the twentieth century.

The Grand Order of Masons and the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) also bought portions of the cemetery. Grave markers in the cemetery are made of a variety of materials, including granite, marble, brick, and painted wood. Some of the family or organizational plots are edged with wrought iron fences or clipped hedges. Many mature trees of several species stand on the grounds. The cemetery holds the graves of pioneers of Redwood City and Searsville, as well as a section for unknown persons; Sarah Wallis, the first president of the California Suffrage Association, was buried here in 1905, as was her fourth husband, California State Senator Joseph S. Wallis, in 1898. The Union Cemetery Association met annually until around 1900 and then once more in 1918. The cemetery was then essentially closed for further burials unless a family already owned spaces.

Title to the cemetery was transferred from the governor to the people of California in 1947 and to the town in 1962. An overpass was constructed nearby in 1965 and the main entrance to the cemetery was relocated to the southeast end. In the 1990s, the Historic Union Cemetery Association (HUCA) was established to help maintain the cemetery. The cemetery has been the site of repeated vandalism, unfortunately. Many of the monuments have been broken, heads of statues have been removed, and above-ground crypts have been broken into. The Civil War soldier statue was damaged in 1957 and destroyed in 1968; a replica was installed by HUCA in 1999. The group offers monthly guided tours.

Anonymous. "Union Cemetery Association." San Mateo County Times (Redwood City) May 28th, 1859. 2-2.

Anonymous. "Cemetery Meeting." San Mateo County Times (Redwood City) May 3rd, 1873. 1-1.

Anonymous. "Union Cemetery Association." San Mateo County Times (Redwood City) May 1st, 1880. 3-3.

Anonymous. "Memorial Day: Fragrant Flowers for the Heroic Dead." San Mateo County Gazette (Redwood City) June 1st, 1889. 3-3.

Anonymous. "Redwood Honors Her Dead." San Francisco Call (San Francisco) May 31st, 1896. 5-5.

Anonymous. "Redwood City Honors Heroes of Republic." San Jose Mercury-News (San Jose) June 1st, 1912. 7-7.

Fox, C. N. "To Contractors." San Mateo County Times (Redwood City) June 4th, 1859. 3-3.

Historic Union Cemetery Association. About the Cemetery, Historic Union Cemetery. January 1st, 2023. Accessed September 5th, 2024. https://historicunioncemetery.org/about-the-cemetery/.

Morrison, James A. Blaufarb, Pamela L. NRHP nomination of Union Cemetery, Redwood City, California. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1981.

Redwood City Public Library. Decoration Day celebration at Union Cemetery, Bits of History: Photo Description. Accessed September 5th, 2024. https://bitsofhistory.plsinfo.org/thumbnailtext.asp?%20%20bofhsearchbox=union+cemetery&Submit=Submit&id=36.

Redwood City Public Library. Statue of Civil War Soldier in Union Cemetery, Bits of History: Photo Description. Accessed September 5th, 2024. https://bitsofhistory.plsinfo.org/thumbnailtext.asp?%20%20bofhsearchbox=union+cemetery&Submit=Submit&id=239.

Union Cemetery Association. "Union Cemetery Grounds." San Mateo County Times (Redwood City) July 2nd, 1859. 2-2.