Sunday, January 15, 2012

Photo Walkabout: Mountain View Cemetery


I spent the day at Mountain View cemetery.   I grew up a couple of blocks from this place and I use to walk the grounds all the time but never pay too much attention to the history it held.   This place is huge and there are so many winding roads that I got lost trying to get back to the main one.   It's an awesome place to go for a walk or a hike and it's filled with so much amazing history that there is an official docent tour that happens twice a month.   The main image below is of Gothic Chapel.  Not sure how it got that name.  I couldn't go inside the chapel but was able to take a few images through the front door.

      One the main section at the cemetery is “Millionaires Row” where some of California's wealthiest and historical people are buried.   Millionaires Row sits high up on a hill and has some of the largest crypts in the cemetery, not to mention a magnificent view.  Some of the names I recognized there were; Warren Bechtel, Charles Crocker, Freda Ehrmann, J.A Folger and Domingo Ghirardelli.
The other section I visited today was the “Civil War Veterans” section.  There were a few other sections I wanted to see but ran out of time.

This is a series that I've wanted to shoot for over a year.  I think I’ll do one more trip before it's complete.

The other thing I learn today was the cemetery was design by famed architect Fredrick Law Olmsted who also designed New York City’s Central Park and much of Stanford University and UC Berkeley.  
I had a great time walking around and talking to the daily walkers and getting a  great history lesson from them.


Gothic Chapel



Sunshine through the trees
Inside Gothic Chapel
Chapel Windows
Millionaires Row Crypts


Millionaires Row



Civil War


Civil War
Tombstone


1 comment:

shirley said...

Beautiful series.
I am also very impressed that you can solve the Rubik's Cube....I can't get that thing!