Buena Vista Park Tombstones
The Verdict
"WPA crews used 19th-century cemetery headstones to line the footpaths and gutters in Buena Vista Park in the late 1930s, after the city relocated its cemeteries to Colma. Names, dates, and partial inscriptions are still readable in the stone borders. Free, dawn to dusk, on a 37-acre hill between Haight Street and Buena Vista Avenue."
What you need to know
Cemetery Headstones Lining Park Paths
When San Francisco relocated its cemeteries to Colma in the early 1900s, the city repurposed thousands of leftover tombstones as construction material. At Buena Vista Park, the WPA used old headstones in the late 1930s to line footpaths and reinforce gutters. Walk the park’s trails today and you’ll see fragments of 19th-century grave markers (names, dates, and inscriptions) embedded in the stone borders along the paths. Most of the stones are thought to have come from the old Laurel Hill (Lone Mountain) Cemetery.
What’s There
The tombstones are visible once you start looking. Pieces of marble and granite with partial inscriptions sit flush in the path edging, mixed with regular stone. Some are face-up with readable text. Others are turned sideways or broken, with only fragments of names or dates showing.
San Francisco reused cemetery materials across the city, at Aquatic Park, Ocean Beach, the Wave Organ, and the Marina District seawall. Buena Vista Park is one of the more accessible places to see them because the paths run right past them.
Buena Vista is the oldest park in San Francisco, established in 1867. It covers 37 acres on a steep hill in Haight-Ashbury, with dense tree cover and views of downtown, the bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge from the summit.
A 10-minute walk through the park will reveal several stones. The most visible ones are along the western paths near the Haight Street entrance and the gutters near the Waller Street playground.
Visiting
Address: Buena Vista Park, between Haight Street and Buena Vista Avenue
Hours: Dawn to dusk
Cost: Free
Best time to go: Morning, when the park is quieter and the light is angled for reading stone inscriptions.
What to know: The paths are steep. Wear sturdy shoes. The tombstones are scattered, so look at the stone borders along path edges.
Getting There
Transit: Muni 6-Haight/Parnassus, 7-Haight/Noriega, or 37-Corbett to Haight and Lyon.
Parking: Street parking on Buena Vista Avenue or Haight Street.
Walking: Adjacent to Haight-Ashbury and the Lower Haight. A short walk from the Duboce Triangle neighborhood.