In 2012, strong winds unearthed long-forgotten headstones on Ocean Beach in San Francisco. But who was Delia Oliver, and why was her headstone on the beach? The answer dates back to the early 20th century, when San Francisco ran out of space and disinterred thousands of graves, moving them to the nearby town of Colma, CA.
In the early 1900s, the land-starved city of San Francisco had a problem. It was running out of space for the living. An 1897 law prevented new burials except in specially designated cemeteries. By 1900, all interments in the city were outlawed, and officials started looking for ways to reclaim the prime real estate where cemeteries were located.
At the time, San Francisco had four major cemeteries: Laurel Hill, Calvary, Odd Fellows, and Masonic, and many smaller cemeteries. The cemeteries were close to capacity and falling into disrepair. Some even argued that the cemeteries had become a public health hazard. In 1912, San Francisco decided to evict cemeteries and declared them a public nuisance. The cemeteries, except San Francisco National Cemetery(Presidio Cemetery) and Mission Dolores, were required to reinter the dead. The remains were to be moved 11 miles away to a town called Lawndale, later renamed Colma.
Relocating more than 150,000 burials was complicated. Officials attempted to contact the families of the deceased, who were required to pay around $10 to move their loved one’s grave and marker to Colma. If they couldn’t locate the next of kin, or if the family could not afford the relocation fee, remains were often reinterred in mass graves. Old headstones were either destroyed or recycled for other projects.
Cemeteries began disintering remains in the 1920s, and the last graves were moved in 1942. Occasionally, however, the city still finds 19th-century graves left behind during the move. In those cases, they try to identify the remains and notify the next of kin.
Colma became known as the City of Souls. Though only 2.2 square miles, it has 17 cemeteries and a pet cemetery. The cemeteries contain approximately 1.5 million graves, and the city has fewer than 2,000 living residents. Colma is the final resting place for many notable figures, including William Randolph Hearst, Wyatt Earp, Levi Strauss, and Joe DiMaggio.
As for Delia Presby Shattuck Oliver, whose headstone was found on the beach in 2012, she was one of many whose remains were moved out of Laurel Hill Cemetery. Just 26 when she died in 1890, Delia’s remains were reinterred in a family plot at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in Marin County. Her old headstone was abandoned, and the city later used it to prevent beach erosion at Ocean Beach, where it remained for decades until uncovered in 2012.
Take a virtual tour of Colma’s cemeteries here, or help members of our Find a Grave community fulfill more than 3,600 photo requests by visiting the Colma cemeteries in person.