4/17/2009

4/17/2009

6/16/2004

4/17/2009

6/16/2004

Landmark information

  • Location:
    NE corner of intersection of San Diego Ave and Arista St, San Diego
  • Plaque:
    Official State Plaque
  • Site:
    Existing
  • Date First Visited:
    12/2/1996
  • Date Most Recently Visited:
    4/17/2009
  • GPS Coordinates:
    N 32 45.088, W 117 11.597

About this landmark

Plaque text:

El Campo Santo (The Holy Field)
El Campo Santo once included the adobe chapel on Conde Street, in which was buried Jose Antonio Aguirre and where funeral services were held for Maria Victoria Dominguez Estudillo, Cave Johnson Couts, and many distinguished early San Diegans. Between 1849 and 1897, 477 persons were buried in these grounds. Antonio Garra was the most eminent of many Native Americans interred here. A number of graves were relocated after 1874. A street railway bisected the cemetery in 1894. The wall around this portion was built in 1933. Restoration has continued to the present.

Note

At some point in the past, a street was run through the grounds of the cemetery. Only one of the graves was moved, however. In 1993, ground-penetrating radar was used to locate the precise locations of the gravesites that are still under the city street.