December Book Club

Unearth the Mysteries of Those Who Lie Beneath the Oldest Graveyards in the Golden State

In each of California’s 58 counties there are hundreds (and hundreds) of cemeteries, burial sites, and abandoned graveyards, some tucked away behind storefronts or under paved streets. “Burying grounds” are found in neighborhoods, pastures, fields, downtowns, backyards, or deep in the woods. In What Lies Beneath: California Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards, author Gail L. Jenner exhumes the stories of these pioneers buried beneath the soil, pavement, and rocks, or under the waters of this state. This guide also provides descriptions of headstone features and symbols, and demystifies the burial traditions used by the Native Americans, Spanish, Chinese immigrants, and early California pioneers and settlers.