 The
idea for Cypress Lawn was born during a carriage ride, as the
last decade of the nineteenth century began. Hamden Holmes Noble, the
man who would soon be credited with founding Cypress Lawn, rode
with a friend one day past Laurel Hill Cemetery, midway between
San Francisco's Ocean Beach to the west and the San Francisco Bay to the east.
Just a few years earlier, Laurel Hill had been considered so
lovely that a Pacific Coast travel guidebook recommended it
as a place to visit. Like other cemeteries in the city, though,
it had reached such a serious state of dilapidation and decay
by the early 1890s that even the air was offensive. Noble's
friend urged him to do himself and San Francisco a favor by
going into the cemetery business. The same day, Noble made the
decision to do so. In 1892, Cypress Lawn became a reality.
Cypress Lawn developed into a lasting institution because Hamden
Noble and other early decision-makers very deliberately masterminded
the park's two great strengths: remarkable physical beauty and
rock-solid organizational structure to ensure that, this time,
the beauty, once created, would endure. In this way they laid
the groundwork for what would follow. Yet even they could not
have planned or predicted what would eventually transpire, the
unique drama that would unfold.
 The
energy that went into securing Cypress Lawn's permanence was
matched by the effort to create a place of beauty. After the
decision was made to establish a memorial park, Hamden Noble
traveled East to research cemetery styles. The "rural" and "lawn
park" cemeteries, which had begun to grace the eastern United
States in the middle of the century, appealed to him. Inviting,
park-like cemeteries were winning favor over older styles in
which each plot was edged with its own fence or wall, cluttering
the landscape and making maintenance nearly impossible. Noble
helped to emulate the ambience of East Coast cemeteries such
as Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Allegheny in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania; and Greenwood in Brooklyn, New York-all landmark
cemeteries that still thrive today. Noble envisioned Cypress
Lawn as "a calm and peaceful resting place for the dead, and
an attractive and pleasing place for meditation of the living.
To this end, " he determined, "we shall exert all our energies." Cypress Lawn Heritage Foundation
1370 El Camino Real
Colma, California 94014-3239
Phone #: (650) 755-0580
Fax #: (650) 994-3317
Leni D. Panopio
Director of Administration and Operations
Cypress Lawn Heritage Foundation
Phone: (650)550-8863
lpanopio@cypresslawn.com
Email: info@cypresslawnheritagefoundation.com
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