18 Feb 1869 |
Joseph
S. Mannasse purchased a tract of land from
The City of San Diego. This tract included the parcel of land
that would later be set apart as a Catholic cemetery, but ultimately
did not become one. |
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12 May 1873 |
Trustee Estudillo, Committee on Cemetery Grounds in
Old Town, reported to the San Diego Board of City Trustees that
he had found a tract of ten acres in Pueblo Lot 1120. Instructions
were issued to have the lot surveyed by the City Engineer. |
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23 Jun 1873 |
J. H. Hornbeck and Richard Morrow, The Cemetery Committee,
report to the San Diego Board of City Trustees that a tract of land
belonging to Mannasse
& Schiller,
lying east of Old Town in Arnold & Choate's Addition is their
selection for cemetery purposes. Prest. Briant and Trustee Estudillo
were selected to negotiate for the lands recommended by the committee. |
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30 Jun 1873 |
The San Diego Board of City Trustees adopted the recommendation
from the Committee on Cemetery in Old Town to purchase a ten acre
tract owned by J.
S. Mannasse at $50 per acre. |
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7 Jul 1873 |
The City of San Diego purchased
10 acres from Joseph S. Mannasse. |
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27 Oct 1873 |
The City of San Diego Charter
Ordinance No. 46 set apart 10 acres for cemetery purposes; 5
acres were assigned to the Catholic
Parish of the Immaculate Conception. |
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2 Feb 1874 |
The San Diego Union newspaper reported that "The
new Catholic burying ground, on the mesa, was staked off last week,
under the direction of Father Ubach."
[However, the location that finally became Calvary Cemetery
was not the location staked off in 1874.] |
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22 Aug 1875 |
The San Diego Union newspaper reported that "Jack
Stewart is at work on the graveyard on the mesa." |
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1875 |
The first burial took place in the 'new Catholic cemetery.'
[More information about this to be added here soon.] |
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4 Jan 1876 |
Father Antonio D.
Ubach wrote a letter to the President and Board of City Trustees
of The City of San Diego informing them that the tract of land placed
under the direction of the Parish
of the Immaculate Conception by Charter
Ordinance No. 46 was "so rough and stony as to be impracticable
for cemetery purposes." The letter asked for substitution of
another tract of land that would be suitable. |
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7 Feb 1876 |
The City of San Diego conveyed
the property it purchased from J. S. Mannasse on 7 July 1873 back
to him. |
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11 Mar 1876 |
The City of San Diego received
a different 10 acres from Joseph S. Mannasse by an exchange deed. |
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11 Mar 1876 |
Charter Ordinance No. 78 was
adopted by The City of San Diego. It placed 5 acres of land under
the control of the Catholic
Parish of the Immaculate Conception. Charter
Ordinance No. 46 was repealed and that land
was conveyed back to J. S. Mannasse as it was unsuitable and
impracticable for cemetery purposes. |
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20 Oct 1891 |
M.G. Wheeler [former San Diego County Surveyor] of
San Francisco wrote a letter to Joseph
S. Mannasse that discussed the legal description of the cemetery
property. |
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3 Apr 1907 |
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12 APR 1909 |
Ordinance No. 3663 set apart
and dedicated certain lands (i.e., "the north five (5) acres")
as a public park. This park became known as Mission Hills Park. |
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1914 |
Ulysses
S. Grant School opens adjacent to the cemetery. |
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8 May 1918 |
The Common Council of The City of San Diego approved
Ordinance No. 7369 granting permission to the Roman Catholic Bishop
of Monterey and Los Angeles to dedicate and set apart certain lands
in The City of San Diego for cemetery purposes. The land set apart
in this resolution became Holy Cross Cemetery [4470 Hilltop Drive,
San Diego, CA 92102]. |
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1918 |
The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people
than World War I. Worldwide, tens of millions of people died
from the "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe." More
people were buried at Calvary Cemetery in 1918 than in any other
year. |
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1919 |
The Catholic church opened Holy Cross Cemetery in
San Diego. |
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Calvary Cemetery fell into disuse and disrepair. |
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Mar 1925 |
Resolution No. 33525 of the Common Council of the
City of San Diego directed that a proposal for deducting and setting
aside a certain portion of Mission Hills Park for public street
purposes be placed on the ballot for the 7 April 1925 general election. |
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7 APR 1925 |
A general election was held. The majority of electors
of the City of San Diego voting in the election passed the proposition
to set aside, dedicate and use a portion of Mission Hills Park for
public street purposes. |
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circa 1925 |
Washington Street [now Washington Place], Portola
Place, Pringle Street and neighboring sidewalks were paved. |
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15 Jun 1931 |
Reverend John M. Hegarty of St. Joseph's Church wrote
to Allen Wright, San Diego City Clerk, that the Right Reverend Bishop
"has consented to allow the city council to take charge of
the old cemetery with a view to its proper care and up-keep"
and "to proceed with the work of fencing and improving the
appearance of the cemetery." |
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1938 |
The City of San Diego passed an ordinance to sponsor
a rehabilitation project (which included building an adobe wall
around the cemetery) at the cemetery and agreed to supervise the
work provided that the California
State Historical Association paid for the materials and federal
W.P.A.
funds paid for the labor. |
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2 Dec 1937 |
Albert Vincent Mayrhofer, President of the California
State Historical Association wrote a letter to a Congressman
in Washington, D.C. asking him to "put in a word in behalf
of P.W.A. [sic] Project No. 1238-930" which "will rehabilitate
the Mission Hills Catholic Cemetery." The letter further stated
that "when this plot is restored, I have the assurance of His
Excellency Bishop Buddy for it's upkeep" |
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7 Nov 1938 |
Construction of the adobe wall around Calvary Cemetery
began. |
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26 Nov 1939 |
Calvary Cemetery was rededicated after completion
of the W.P.A.
restoration project. A stone dedication monument
was placed at the cemetery. |
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1941 - 1949 |
A caretaker was employed for grounds maintenance at
Calvary Cemetery by The City of San Diego Park
and Recreation Department. |
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22 Jan 1941 |
The first interment under the supervision of The City
of San Diego's Mount
Hope Cemetery occurred at Calvary Cemetery. |
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1942 |
A set of 10 maps
of Calvary Cemetery were created under the direction of The
City of San Diego's Superintendent of Cemetery Percy C. Broell. |
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The U.S. military maintained an observation base on
the cemetery grounds for a time. |
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The condition of Calvary Cemetery continued to deteriorate.
Vandals
toppled and destroyed gravestones and otherwise misused the cemetery. |
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23 Jan 1948 |
Ordinance No. 3615 changed the name of the portion
of Washington Street between Ibis Street and Pringle Street to Washington
Place. |
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11 Sep 1952 |
Resolution No. 108309 referred "the matter of
the Mission Hills Cemetery" to the City Manager for report. |
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22 Jan 1957 |
Carlos Bee, Jesse M. and Viola Dills, and William
Byron Rumford introduced Assembly Bill No. 2751 (an act to add Chapter
7 (commencing at Section
8825) to Part 3, Division 8 of the Health and Safety code, relating
to private cemeteries) in the Assembly of the State of California.
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5 Jun 1957 |
California Governor, Goodwin J. Knight, approved Assembly
Bill No. 2751 that amended the state Health
and Safety Code, Section 8825-8829, and established the procedure
to permit a city or county to declare a cemetery abandoned and convert
it to a pioneer memorial park. |
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16 Mar 1960 |
Rose Wilson Mallicoat (b. 28 Mar
1879 - d. 11 Mar 1960) was the last person to be buried at Calvary
Cemetery. |
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1961 |
The City San Diego's Park and Recreation Department
submitted a request for development of Calvary Cemetery as a pioneer
memorial park. The project was scheduled for 1966-1967, but was
deferred because other projects were considered more urgent. |
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27 Mar 1968 |
The Roman Catholic Bishop of San
Diego executed a quitclaim deed to all right, title and interest
in the real property that included Calvary Cemetery. The quitclaim
was delivered with two conditional provisions - 1) the deed could
be recorded at such time as the City Council adopted a resolution
abandoning the cemetery, and 2) should any person establish a right
to interment in Calvary Cemetery, the City would offer such person
an equivalent plot in Mount
Hope Cemetery or other City owned cemetery. |
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7 May 1968 |
Resolution No. 193616 was
adopted by the Council of The City of San Diego instructing the
City Clerk to publish notice that the City Council intended to consider
declaring the cemetery abandoned at its 11 June 1968 meeting. |
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11 Jun 1968 |
Resolution No. 193940 was
adopted by the Council of The City of San Diego declaring abandonment
of Calvary Cemetery as a place for future interment. |
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15 Aug 1968 |
The Council of The City of San Diego adopted Resolution
No. 194518 authorizing the City Clerk to have the quitclaim
deed from The Roman Catholic Bishop of San Diego dated 27 Mar 1968
recorded by the San Diego County Recorder. |
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Feb 1969 |
"Calvary Cemetery, Mission Hills" was designated
a historic site by The City of San Diego Historical Site Board. |
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The architectural firm of Paderewski, Dean & Associates
was hired by the San Diego City Council to prepare a general development
plan for the park. |
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23 Jul 1969 |
The City of San Diego gave written permission to Clemens
Granite Works to remove all completely unmarked granite copings
and stones. |
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19 Aug 1969 |
The only above ground vaults (2) at Calvary Cemetery
were opened and the caskets were interred directly below their original
place of entombment. |
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11 Sep 1969 |
The City Council of The City of San Diego adopted
Ordinance No. 10130 repealing Charter
Ordinance No. 78 relating to land for cemetery purposes. |
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18 Dec 1969 |
The City of San Diego Engineering Department released
Specification No. 2451 for The Improvement of Mission Hills Park
(W.O. No. 17825; CIP No. 23-440). The deadline for bids to
be received was 20 Jan 1970. |
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17 Feb 1970 |
The San Diego City Council awarded a contract for
The Improvement of Mission Hills Park (i.e., to convert Calvary
Cemetery into a pioneer memorial park) to T.
B. Penick & Sons, Inc. by Resolution
No. 199061. |
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Feb-Jun 1970 |
Recordings, rubbings and photographs
were made of almost every gravestone and monument found at Calvary
Cemetery. The photographs
were subsequently donated by the Hillcrest - Mission Hills Improvement
Association to The
San Diego Historical Society. [These
photographs are viewable on the internet.] |
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Calvary Pioneer Memorial Park construction was completed. |
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30 Sep 1971 |
The City Council of The City of San Diego adopted
Resolution No. 203858 setting aside and
dedicating a portion of Calvary Cemetery for a public park named
Calvary Pioneer Memorial Park. |
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23 Jul 1975 |
Resolution No. 213837 approved the plans and specifications
for a Mission Hills Park central memorial. |
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5 Nov 1975 |
The City of San Diego Resolution No. 214591 approved
the plans and specifications for a Mission Hills Park comfort station. |
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4 Jan 1977 |
Assemblyman Michael Wornum introduced California Assembly
Bill No. 144, an act to amend Section
8825 of the Health and Safety Code, to permit interment "of
any person who is an owner of a plot [in a cemetery that has been
declared abandoned] on the date of adoption of the [abandonment]
resolution or who otherwise has a right of interment in the cemetery
which is vested on such date." |
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22 Jun 1977 |
Trepte Brothers Development Company was awarded the
contract to build a comfort station [restroom facilities] at Mission
Hills Park by Resolution No. 218641. |
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Sep 1977 |
A central memorial of bronze
plaques, designed by landscape architect John Davidson, was constructed
at the park. |
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Nov 1977 |
Construction of the restroom facility at the park
was completed. |
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11 Dec 1977 |
Calvary Pioneer Memorial Park
was dedicated in a public ceremony at the park. |
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9 Feb 1988 |
A bulldozer was used to bury many gravestones that had been taken
from Calvary Cemetery in 1970. They were buried in an isolated
area on the property of The City of San Diego's Mount
Hope Cemetery.
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As a memorial, a small group
of the headstones (that had been taken from Calvary Cemetery in
1970) were set in concrete near the site of the buried gravestones
at Mount
Hope Cemetery. |
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22 Feb 2000 |
The City Council of The City of San Diego adopted
Ordinance Number O-18767 (New Series) -
An ordinance setting aside and dedicating city owned land, known
as "Mission Hills Park / Calvary Pioneer Park" in the
city of San Diego, California, for a public park. |