Local history lovers know that Colma, California has one of the most fascinating backstories of all the quirky Bay Area towns.
Also known as the “City of Souls,” Colma is famous for housing more than a dozen major cemeteries where 1.5 million people are buried. Given that its living population only numbers around 1,500-1,700 people, it’s often said that the dead outnumber the living 1,000 to 1.
Here’s a closer look at how the city lives up to its official motto, “It’s Great to be Alive in Colma!”
Relocating the cemeteries of San Francisco
When San Francisco’s cemeteries began filling to capacity in the late 1800s, city leaders launched an initiative to relocate the bodies to free up real estate. By 1901, it became illegal to add new burials in San Francisco, even before the 1906 earthquake that killed thousands.
1876 map of San Francisco. William P. Humphreys & Co., David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, printed by Worley & Bracher and F. (Frederick) Bourquin. Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
During the first few decades of the twentieth century, San Francisco relocated over 130,000 bodies to Colma, according to KQED. Some were transported with their accompanying headstones if the families could afford the fee, but if not, they were buried in mass graves. And some remains stayed right where they were, buried beneath SF buildings to this day. Now, SF only has two cemeteries remaining: the SF National Cemetery and Mission Dolores Cemetery.
As for the tombstones left behind, they were repurposed for parts of city infrastructure that you can still see in places like Aquatic Park and Buena Vista Park.
Colma maintains 16 historic cemeteries across 2.2 square miles, including Holy Cross, Cypress Lawn, Italian Cemetery, Japanese Cemetery, and several Jewish cemeteries. Generations of Bay Area families have loved ones buried here.
Famous graves in Colma
Grave of Levi Strauss in Home of Peace Cemetery. Wayne Hsieh, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr
A great deal of local historical figures also came to rest in Colma cemeteries, where you can still go and pay your respects.
They include the Hearst Family, Charles de Young, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, Levi Strauss, and Wyatt Earp, among many more. You can read our article about famous graves in Colma for more details about where they’re buried, along with short biographies.
Visiting Colma
Most SF visitors to Colma make the trip by car or BART, and then wander through the park-like cemeteries on foot.
While most of the businesses in Colma are of the funeral home and florist variety, you can find some chain restaurants and local eateries close to Junipero Serra Boulevard and in Daly City.
The sprawling, landscaped grounds are simultaneously peaceful and surreally quiet, offering a vivid way to connect with an overlooked part of Bay Area history.
🌐 Learn more: Town of Colma
