YORBA LINDA : Cemetery’s Future Includes Restoration

The neighborhood packed with condominiums off Esperanza Road would hardly seem to be the setting for the final resting place of some of California’s pioneer families.

But there, next to the community tennis court and playground, stands Yorba Cemetery, one of the state’s oldest private cemeteries, predated in Orange County only by the Mission Cemetery at San Juan Capistrano.

The names on the headstones are like an encyclopedic list of California’s history makers: Yorba, Carrillo, Peralta, Dominguez, Castillo, Mendoza, Sepulveda.

“This may be the only cemetery in Southern California strictly tied to a Hispanic settlement,” said county Park Ranger Mike Miniachi.

The cemetery was established as part of the 13,328-acre Rancho Canon de Santa Ana, granted to Bernardo Yorba by the Mexican governor in 1834. The son of Jose Antonio Yorba I, a Spanish soldier in the Gen. Gaspar de Portola expedition of 1769, Don Bernardo Yorba built a 50-room adobe hacienda where his family and workers lived. The estate was razed in 1926.

Not long before Yorba’s death in 1858, he deeded the cemetery to the Catholic church. His impressive marble headstone is the centerpiece of the cemetery, surrounded by the graves of most of his family, including 20 of his 21 children.

The first and oldest identified burial, dating back to 1839, belongs to a Peralta family member. The history of the Peraltas, another of the county’s founding families, dates back two centuries, when King Carlos III of Spain gave a land grant to Sgt. Juan Pablo Peralta in recognition of his service to the crown.

The 1839 headstone was found a few years ago in a garage when a woman phoned Miniachi about her husband’s find in the hills and asked him to get the “creepy thing out.”

Plagued by vandalism and pillaging of grave sites, the cemetery was acquired by the county in 1966 from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which could not oversee the distant site. Under the terms of the grant, the county must maintain the facility or return it to the church.

But during the 1970s, the vandalism continued. Headstones were toppled, stolen, broken and marked with graffiti. A 7-foot wrought-iron fence now encloses the 200-by-200 foot site, and Miniachi maintains access to the locked facility. He also leads public tours.

Although 127 grave sites have been identified, Miniachi speculates that there about 400 to 600 within the area.

“I’m sure there’s burials outside the fence.” But, he noted, some markers were covered by soil from the eroding hill. Others, made of wood, eventually decayed or were stolen.

The last burial at Yorba Cemetery was in 1939. “The reasons,” Miniachi said, “is there is no map of where anyone was buried,” leaving cemetery caretakers concerned about disturbing unmarked grave sites.

Since the county took it over, the cemetery has been undergoing restoration in phases. Graduate students of history from Cal State Fullerton have been examining old photographs to document the cemetery in its different stages.

Yorba Cemetery is at 6749 Parkwood Court, Yorba Linda. Tours by appointment only. For information, call (714) 528-4260.