Same picture, different years

A few years later and the Downey Cemetery still looks the same.

From an excerpt from Downeyca.org

The Downey Cemetery District operates a cemetery that traces its roots back to 1868 with the burial of the small daughter of W.A. Spurlock, owner of the land where the cemetery is now located. He donated one acre by his daughter's grave as a burial ground for others in the vicinity. William H. Pendleton purchased the Surlock property and along with others donated more land for the cemetery. Between 1873 and 1880 the Downey Masonic Lodge began its own graveyard adjacent to the Downey Cemetery's eastern boundary. The Downey Cemetery District Association and the Masonic Cemetery began a petition movement in 1921 for the County of Los Angeles to create a cemetery district out of the two cemeteries. In 1928 this Downey Cemetery District was created.

The Downey Cemetery is the final resting place for pioneers of the Southeast region and local historical figures. The cemetery is the final resting site for over 9,000 souls, including veterans from the Civil War through the Gulf War. We honor our Veterans' with graveside flags on the annual Memorial Day tribute held at the cemetery.

The final resting place

Père Lachaise Cemetery is Paris's largest cemetery. I was surprised to discover that it's not much older than our Downey Cemetery. But the similarity stops there.

When the cemetery was first created, Parisians thought it was situated a little too far from the city. So the administrators came up with a marketing plan to increase its popularity by transferring the remains of several notable French people to the new cemetery. The campaign worked, and soon everyone was clamoring to be buried here.

There are now over 1 million people buried in the 110 acres of the cemetery. The grave sites are a jumble, sometimes nearly on top of each other. Some are cared for, others have grave markers that have fallen over. Those buried here range from the nobility to the ordinary, from the famous to the unknown.

Frederic Chopin is buried here in 1849.
His grave is surrounded by fresh flowers.

Marcel Marceau was buried here in 2007.
His grave, in the Jewish tradition, is
covered with small stones.

Jim Morrison was buried here in 1971.
The trees surrounding his grave are
covered with graffiti.

A time to remember

Tonight I went to the Downey Cemetery. I wanted to get pictures at sunset of this lovely setting. It is a beautiful cemetery and gives a sense of the history of Downey. So many of the grave markers date back to the mid-1800s. I was surprised to see fresh flowers on this grave stone from 1919.

In the time of yore

Revisiting the Cemetery, getting ready for a different photo shoot, I came across this grave stone. All the stones are cold and lonely but this one somehow stood out to me. I wanted to bring flowers or something. Being there just makes me want to know his story. It makes me curious of the life he had in my town a century before I was around.

Plant graveyard

I was having a snack, sitting outside in the conservatory one evening, when I noticed all my flowers in the flower bed had died. All that was left were weeds. It was about that time I also realized that all the little "flower markers" looked a little like gravestones... So, here is my plant graveyard.