Words by Margaret Koenig
Partially obscured from view by the gnarled oak trees lining its perimeter, Holy Cross Cemetery is easy to overlook. The graveyard, located at the intersection of Santa Cruz and Avy avenues in Menlo Park, has hosted the dead since the 1860s, when it was a nonsectarian burial site. Acquired by the Church of the Nativity in 1883, it was named Holy Cross and consecrated as a Roman Catholic cemetery. It was originally landscaped by Michael Lynch, known for his work on parts of Stanford University and grand homes like the Timothy Hopkins estate. By the 1950s and 1960s the graveyard had fallen into disrepair, prompting its reconstruction by John Kiefer and Monsignor Edwin Kennedy, both of whom were later buried there.
Despite the ivy-draped chain link fence that grants the grounds a modicum of seclusion, the hum of street traffic permeates the air, intermingling with the cawing of nearby crows. The burial site, which contains over 6,200 recorded tombs, includes a poignant section reserved for children. A closer look at the older plots adorned with moss-covered statues reveals some of the Bay Area’s preeminent historical figures. There’s Elena Atherton Selby, daughter of town namesake Faxon Dean Atherton, and Juana Briones de Miranda, referred to as the “Founding Mother of San Francisco” for her role in the city’s development. Other notable inhabitants include Sheriff William Phillip McEvoy, who was shot while apprehending a murderer in 1895, and Jared Lawrence Rathbone, a U.S. Consul General to Paris who also fought in the Civil War for the Union Army. In October, the Menlo Park Historical Association hosts a guided tour of Holy Cross, which remains an active cemetery. It’s estimated that its grounds contain space for at least another century of burials, as up to 100 souls are laid to rest within its tranquil confines each year.