[Last updated 11/12/24 10:33 PM PT—I'm pleased to report that 10 years later, conditions have dramatically improved at Grand View, although it's still got a ways to go. I've made some edits throughout the post to reflect the current conditions and added some 2024 photos to the bottom of the post.]
The best ones, of course, are those you've never heard of, tucked away in some other municipality, their signs obscured by overgrown bougainvillea...
...their gates locked.
Grand View Memorial Park in Glendale is currently
...and the remains of the dead [had] become submerged farther into the earth.
For those lucky enough to have grave markers above ground, their friends and families can visit them for a few hours every Sunday, when volunteers unlock the gates. [Ed: Thanks to the owners who took over in 2015, the cemetery is now open 365 days a year.]
For the rest, those they left behind have to search for their headstones beneath the ground cover, brown and dry like kindling on a hot summer day. [Ed: The headstones have been cleaned up a lot and mostly uncovered.]
Established in 1884, Grand View is one of the oldest cemeteries in the LA area...
...and officially closed in 2006.
Following some renovations, it went up for sale officially in 2011...
...
Even on days when the cemetery is open, the mausoleums are locked, and accessible only by escort.
The North Mausoleum appears to have been ripped out of the clutches of some other building...
...as it stands in place now, decaying more quickly than its deceased residents inside.
These protections are unfortunately necessary: vandals have broken in, stolen bronze grave markers, and uprooted other markers as recently as last fall.
This historic place may be preserved now...
...but it's seen its darker days.
In 2005, it was discovered that remains of nearly 4000 dead were improperly disposed of and/or buried by the cemetery's own workers...
...including splitting them up, mixing them up with others, and added them to already-occupied graves.
Yikes!
No wonder there is a feeling of unrest here.
Now, with most of the graves hidden in the straw-like overgrowth, and all the buildings locked...
...what's most disturbing is the unseen...
...and the vague glimpses you can get by peering through broken glass windows, between slats and rusty frames.
2024
Update 2024: I recently took a tour of Grand View with Glendale Historical Society and was pleased to see it looking much greener and far tidier than my prior visit in 2014.
2024
People continue to be buried there—and the recently deceased have contributed some really nice headstones to the landscape.
2024
And clearly with the cemetery now open with unrestricted access, people are coming and really taking care of it—and showing some major love at the gravesites of those they've lost.
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