Colma -- San Franciscans' final resting place

June 10, 3:26 PMSF Ethnic Communities ExaminerMiki Garcia

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When you drive down El Camino Real, South San Francisco, you will come across this tranquil scenery -- endless cemeteries on a sweeping panorama of verdant hills. Some people find cemeteries spooky and a bit scary, but I love them. A serene landscape with many stories told on the tombstones is real and somewhat soothing.

Colma, or “many springs” in an Ohlone Indian word, just south of San Francisco, is known as "the City of the Dead". Officially established as a necropolis (or burial place) with an area of only 2.2 square miles, it has a population of about 1,500 and more than 1.5 million underground. This tiny city holds astonishing 17 cemeteries, which include memorial parks for Catholics, Jews, Italians, Greek Orthodox, Serbs, Japanese, Chinese and non-denominational people -- plus pets. This is the place where San Francisco residents will most probably end up.

The gold rush attracted millions of people to San Francisco but at the same time they brought disease which lead to a high death rate. By the 1880s, San Francisco’s 26 cemeteries were full and it was urgent to find somewhere else to bury the dead. Colma was chosen because of convenience and good transportation -- easy access by horse and carriage, and streetcars and trains use to go there from San Francisco.

In 1900, the City of San Francisco officially banned burials and the politicians promoted information that cemeteries spread disease. But the truth was that they wanted to implement valuable real estate as the Bay Area was already densely populated. When eviction notices were sent out to all cemeteries to remove their bodies in 1914, Colma became home to those souls. You will find some famous people among the silent residents -- Joe DiMaggio, Wyatt Earp, William Randolf Hearst, and Tina Turner’s dog wrapped in her fur coat.

As it is expensive to live in San Francisco, it doesn’t come cheap to be buried here. But a growing demand for ethnic cemeteries might suggest that immigrants wish to be identified themselves within a community. It is a powerful and conclusive way to express your self-awareness.