Chanate Historic Cemetery

HISTORY

In 1874 the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors contracted with Lewis A. Murdoch to buy part of his farm, located a couple of miles northeast of Santa Rosa. For $5000, the county got a 100 acre working farm including crops, fruit trees, and a farm house. Most of this property still belongs to Sonoma County. It is the land where Sutter Medical Center is today and where many county offices are located.

This property gave the county a place to have its own cemetery, which could be used for burying people who died without family, friends, or money enough to arrange for their burial. These people were known as "paupers" or "indigents." Up to 1874, the county had been burying paupers in a part of the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. This was no longer possible because the county burials were taking up too much room (Rural Cemetery was not charging the county for the graves).

When the county began burying paupers on the "county farm," a small plot at the southeast corner of the property was used. In 1877, a new, larger cemetery was started at the west side of the farm. This is the graveyard that is now known as the "Chanate Historic Cemetery." (The original "southeast corner" of the property is now a vacant lot on Hidden Valley Drive. It is not marked in any way and probably still contains the first couple of dozen county burials.) The county cemetery never had an official name and was rarely mentioned in any records.

Between 1877 and 1944, the county cemetery gradually expanded to its current size, one and a half acres. Over 1,500 burials were made until the cemetery finally became full. The county then purchased some land behind Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery (known as the Stanley Cemetery) for a new county cemetery and the old one was abandoned.

In 1987, the old cemetery was discovered during a project to build a new parking lot for Community Hospital. Any cemetery records that had once existed were now missing. Research and publicity combined to paint an interesting picture of the "mystery cemetery" and an ambitious plan for restoration was unveiled to the Board of Supervisors. Unfortunately, lack of money stalled the county's plans, even though a correspondent, one of many, begged the county not to neglect the cemetery. After placing a sign in 1988, the "Old County Cemetery" was placed on the "back burner."

In 2001, the Old County Cemetery was discovered by Jeremy Nichols during the research for his book Cemeteries of Sonoma County, California, A History and Guide (Heritage Books, 2002). After seeing his book into publication, Mr. Nichols approached Tim Smith, the now-retired supervisor whose 3rd district included the cemetery. In August 2003, Supervisor Smith set up a meeting with county staff at which a clean-up project was proposed. The project would be staffed by volunteers, with expenses met through contributions from the public. This was the beginning of an effort that continues today.

[to be continued]

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