The oldest existing cemetery in Sacramento, opened in 1849, and a remarkably intact record of the city's first decades. Some 25,000 people are buried here, representing every wave of Gold Rush immigration — the headstones mark German, Irish, Chinese, and Californio names in roughly equal proportion. Many graves belong to cholera victims from the epidemics of 1850 and 1852 that killed thousands of newcomers.
The Friends of the City Cemetery runs weekend walking tours that bring the history to life through specific stories: the Chinese burial society that maintained its own section, the Masonic lodges, the pioneers who crossed the Sierra Nevada. The cemetery is also notable for its mature tree canopy — valley oaks and sycamores planted in the 1850s have grown into impressive specimens.