ANAHEIM : Landmark Status Given Cemetery

Nestled on one of the oldest and quietest residential streets in Anaheim sits one of the city’s most historic spots, the Anaheim Cemetery.

In the quaint park, with its neatly trimmed green grass and well-manicured shrubs, rest some of the founding families of the north county area. Many of their names now adorn the area’s major streets and buildings.

Last week, the Native Daughters of the Golden West designated the county’s oldest cemetery a historical landmark and raised a flagpole on the site for the honor. The 123-year-old cemetery is home to some veterans of the Civil War, and a number of the more than 10,000 plots date back to the mid-19th Century.

“This is what the Native Daughters stand for as the state’s oldest historical society,” said Mickey Welle, incoming president of the group. “We feel the cemeteries should be marked because that’s where your pioneers are.”

The group also donated California and U.S. flags to the Anaheim Cemetery in ceremonies last week that were attended by local officials and community members. They gathered under the sycamore and palm trees that dot the serene park, which spans 14 acres and is nearly a full city block deep. It still is used to lay the city’s residents to rest.

In the tiny office where cemetery manager Jack Fleming works, lead and stained-glass arched windows, left over from the original St. Boniface church in Anaheim, grace the walls.

Fleming said the windows are from the Kraemer and Backs families, who were instrumental in the growth of the North County area. But he added that there are too many other important people at the cemetery to single out just a few well-known names.

“I don’t like to name too many names,” Fleming said. “They’re all important people.”