Two terrifying guillotines have been placed in a downtown San Diego park! I spotted them this morning at Lane Field Park as I walked along the Embarcadero!
Are heads about to roll?
Turns out these props, and others, are part of a scary event that will take place tomorrow, Halloween day. It’s called the Graveyard Festival!
There will be six stages with lots of music, DJs, dancers and costumes galore. I’m not sure how they’ll fit all that in a relatively small park. Should be interesting. I suppose I’ll have to walk by to check it out!
Another year is passing by. In a couple of weeks, Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) will be observed. Loved ones who’ve passed on from this life will be remembered.
The gravesites at El Campo Santo in Old Town are decorated already. Every early resident of San Diego buried here is remembered with flowers, papel picado, Day of the Dead skulls… Every person here was loved by someone.
This small cemetery is the final resting place of so many different people: the Kumeyaay, Spanish, Mexican, American. Newborn babies, the elderly. The rich, the poor. Public figures, unknown people. The lucky, the unlucky. Victims of old age, disease, accident, violence, injustice.
Mortals all.
Every one was loved by someone.
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Oh my goodness! Why have these old tombs been placed in the southwest corner of San Diego’s Balboa Park? Very spooky!
You’d almost think that Halloween is approaching. Oh, wait. It is less then two months away!
So it isn’t surprising that The Haunted Trail is being set up in its usual Balboa Park location. The annual outdoor “haunted house” attraction is rather large, so putting it all together must take some time.
Imagine walking past those creepy old tombs in the dark of night. Might someone or something pop out unexpectedly?
I’d probably scream.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Many of the crosses and headstones at Old Town San Diego’s historic El Campo Santo cemetery are now decorated with red roses and hearts. I observed this today, more than a week after Valentine’s Day.
Expressions of enduring love have appeared for San Diego’s earliest residents.
I remember seeing the cemetery decorated with traditional marigolds years ago during Día de los Muertos. See those photographs here.
Curious about who is buried in San Diego’s oldest graveyard? Read a past blog post concerning the diverse folk who came to rest at El Campo Santo by clicking here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
A crowd of thousands gathered this evening in Old Town San Diego for the annual Día de los Muertos procession.
The candlelight procession would begin around sundown in front of the Immaculate Conception Church and move slowly down San Diego Avenue to the historic El Campo Santo cemetery.
I walked from Old Town San Diego State Historic Park to the cemetery and back again as people were still gathering for this very popular event.
What did my camera find?
Face painting at many stations, as living faces were decorated to look like colorful sugar skulls. And beautiful chalk art in the State Park left over from last weekend’s Day of the Dead event. And many costumes, elegant Catrinas and walking skeletons.
An altar was set up in the El Campo Santo cemetery, and there was the old wall and a special board where people could draw hearts and write messages for deceased loved ones. The graves were joyfully decorated, too.
As I returned toward the State Park, people had already begun to line San Diego Avenue to view the coming procession. But it was rapidly becoming too dark for my camera. So this series of photographs ends with a smile at Fiesta de Reyes in the State Park.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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A horde of demons and ghouls have gathered in San Diego. The monsters have wandered to the edge of downtown and now haunt the southwest corner of Balboa Park. Should you travel through Balboa Park after dark–beware!
Disbelieve me? Check out these photos! I took them today!
Yes, I walked around the perimeter of The Haunted Trail, San Diego’s popular outdoor haunted house that is designed to make you jump with fright! Halloween has never been so spooky, scream-worthy and fun!
These photos were darkened for maximum scary effect. Boo!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
James W. Robinson was hanged for stealing a rowboat from San Diego Bay. He was convicted of grand larceny. He was buried in San Diego’s Old Town, a short distance from where the hanging took place.
Perhaps you know James Robinson from his nickname, Yankee Jim. The hanging ground where he was executed in 1852 is now occupied by the Whaley House Museum. The historically important Whaley House lays claim to being the most haunted house in America. Some say Yankee Jim’s ghost can still be seen in and around the museum.
A plaque was placed on the south side of the Whaley House earlier this year. I took photographs of it a couple days ago. It describes the hanging of Yankee Jim, shortly before Mr. Whaley bought the old hanging ground to build his house.
The plaque reads:
On the 18th of September, 1852, James “Yankee Jim” Robinson was the last man to be hanged at this site after being convicted of grand larceny. The simple gallows consisted of two posts, a horizontal beam, and a mule-drawn wagon. Catholic priests conducted the final ceremonies and Yankee Jim was allowed time to deliver a farewell speech to the crowd that had gathered. Undersheriff Crosthwaite gave the order, and a whip was applied to the mules, leaving Yankee Jim to hang. Mr. Thomas Whaley, present during the execution, purchased this property shortly afterward. By all accounts, he built his brick home where the gallows originally stood.
Many years ago I visited the El Campo Santo cemetery where Yankee Jim was buried. I documented many of the gravesites, including his. I revisited the early San Diego cemetery again after discovering the Whaley House plaque.
The grave marker, which appears to contain errors, reads:
James W. Robinson, who was known as “Yankee Jim”, suffered the extreme penalty for stealing the only rowboat in San Diego Bay. The verdict of the jury was as follows: “Your jurors in the within case of James W. Robinson have to return a verdict of guilty and do therefore sentence him, James Robinson to be hanged by the neck until dead. Cave J. Courts [Cave Couts], foreman of the jury.
The poor fellow could not believe that he was to be hanged until the very last moment. He appeared to think it all a grim joke over, at worst. A serious effort to impress him with the enormity of his evil ways. He was still talking when the deputy sheriff gave the signal. Then the cart was driven from beneath him, and he was left dangling in the air. Surely the punishment was far more wicked than the crime. Yet the example must have proved effective in discouraging theft.
Yankee Jim converted to Roman Catholic Church prior to his death, thus his baptismal name of Santiago (Spanish for James). His godfather was Philip Crosthwaite, the deputy sheriff who gave the signal for his execution.
Information compiled from the History of San Diego, by W. E. Smythe, and other sources.
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This afternoon the 15th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony was held in Lincoln Acres, a small community encompassed by National City.
People from all over, feeling gratitude for United States military members and those who made the ultimate sacrifice, gathered at La Vista Memorial Park. There we listened to the emotionally stirring words of keynote speakers, including several historians. The Memorial Day Ceremony honored 30 Civil War Veterans buried in the hilltop cemetery.
Before the ceremony began, people wandered about the grass, looking down at markers and small American flags. People mingling near the event stage talked, and when the bagpipes started, they slowly took their seats. I heard birds singing.
I sat in a spot with a limited view of the proceedings. I was unable to photograph the Rifle Salute and Taps performed in the distance by the 82nd Airborne Division San Diego Chapter.
The scheduled WWII era aircraft flyover was cancelled due to the thick overcast.
Here are some of the highlights:
Members of the 82nd Airborne Division San Diego Chapter assemble among flags by the La Vista Memorial Park pond.Charles Rosenberg plays bagpipes before the ceremony begins.The California Army National Guard advances the colors.Sophia Hoffman, a recent contestant on hit television show The Voice, sang the National Anthem beautifully.All stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation.John Finch, retired US Navy Chief, read John A. Logan’s General Order No. 11, which called for a national day of remembrance for Civil War dead. It became the holiday Memorial Day. Kathleen Winchester, President of the Sons and Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, pays tribute to Civil War Veteran Milford Phillips, who died in San Diego and is buried nearby.Mark Carlson, author and military historian, reads the Gettysburg Address. …we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. He encouraged us to thank all Veterans and current service members.National City Mayor Ron Morrison recalls how Ely S. Parker, a Native American, who encountered mid-19th century bigotry, eventually rose to become adjutant and secretary to General Ulysses S. Grant.National City and San Diego County dignitaries prepare to deliver a special recognition.Tom McBride, 101 years old, is honored. He flew Corsairs with VMF-1 off the USS Bennington during World War II.Dan Sutton, history teacher at West Hills High School, also gave a speech. (That’s him in my very first photograph.) He explained that many people from San Diego traveled east to fight in the Civil War. He also presented this display, which includes the 70 pounds of equipment, food and clothing a Union soldier would carry.After the speeches a free lunch was provided to everyone. Good old American hot dogs. Many families were at the ceremony.Flags mark the final resting places of those who fought for their country.
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Spain’s first outpost in Southern California, the 1769 Royal Presidio of San Diego, is long gone. Its ruins are buried on Presidio Hill just beneath the Junípero Serra Museum. Grassy mounds and bits of old brick can still be found as one walks about.
This historical site is a place where very diverse stories were lived. It’s a place were many were buried when life finally ended.
At the corner of the main visitor’s parking lot one can find an historical marker. On the rear of a nearby kiosk is a faded Burial Register.
SAN DIEGO PRESIDIO SITE
SOLDIERS, SAILOR, INDIANS, AND FRANCISCAN MISSIONARIES FROM NEW SPAIN OCCUPIED THE LAND AT PRESIDIO HILL ON MAY 17, 1769 AS A MILITARY OUTPOST. TWO MONTHS LATER FR. JUNIPERO SERRA ESTABLISHED THE FIRST SAN DIEGO MISSION ON PRESIDIO HILL. OFFICIALLY PROCLAIMED A SPANISH PRESIDIO ON JANUARY 1, 1774, THE FORTRESS WAS LATER OCCUPIED BY A SUCCESSION OF MEXICAN FORCES. THE PRESIDIO WAS ABANDONED IN 1837 AFTER SAN DIEGO BECAME A PUEBLO.
CALIFORNIA REGISTERED HISTORICAL LAND MARK NO. 59
HERE, IN THIS PARK, LIE THE REMAINS OF THE ORIGINAL RESIDENTS OF THE PRESIDIO, BOTH NATIVE AND IMMIGRANTS, OF THIS ORIGINAL SETTLEMENT THAT LATER BECAME THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO. BELOW IS A LIST OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO HELPED CREATE THE COMMUNITY, LIVED THEIR LIVES HERE, AND WERE BURIED IN THESE PRESIDIO GROUNDS. THESE PEOPLE CAME FROM AND REPRESENT PLACES ALL OVER THE WORLD. IMPORTANTLY, THEIR LIVES WERE DEDICATED TO HELP BUILD THIS COMMUNITY.
Source: The Catholic Church Burial Register
During past walks, I’ve photographed other historical plaques and signs on Presidio Hill. See many of them here and here.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
At sundown this evening there will be a Día de los Muertos candlelight procession through Old Town. Those participating will end at San Diego’s old El Campo Santo cemetery, where many of our city’s earliest residents are buried.
This afternoon the small cemetery had already been decorated for Día de los Muertos.
A colorful altar stands near the entrance, just beyond the El Campo Santo historical marker. According to one sign I noticed, the Community Altar is by the Descendants of Old Town San Diego.
Marigolds and paper sugar skulls decorate gravesites, and the names of deceased loved ones have been scrawled in chalk on the cemetery wall along San Diego Avenue.
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