Historical Marker · No. 1046
Savannah Memorial Park
Rosemead, Los Angeles County · California
Erected by California State Parks; and El Monte Cemetery Asoc, 2012
The story goes that Henry Dalton, riding his rancho around 1846, came on two graves fenced with cactus and set two acres aside rather than plough them under. The ground had a low water table, which is why it worked. It became the burial place for the wagon-train families who founded El Monte a few years later and has been in use ever since, the oldest cemetery of its kind in Southern California. The city line moved; the graves did not.
What the plaque says
Established in 1851, on the spot where Henry Dalton's land grant showed "the American graveyard”, Savannah was the first public burial site used by settlers who came to the San Gabriel Valley by wagon train. Many of these pioneers were instrumental in developing the educational, social, and legal foundations of Southern California. Their family names are commemorated in the names of streets, buildings, and parks throughout the area. These pioneers formed the foundation of the American presence in El Monte, Rosemead, and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley.
Where it stands
34.08115, -118.06769 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 2.5 miThe fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.
- Colorado Street Bridge — 7.0 miBeaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.
- Santa Monica Pier — 25 miWhere the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.