Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)
Catholic cemetery in Menlo Park, California
Holy Cross Cemetery, also known as Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, is an American Roman Catholic cemetery located in Menlo Park, California, United States, established in the 1860s.
History
The cemetery's oldest gravestone dates to 1860, the exact date of the cemetery formation is unknown. This had been a nonsectarian graveyard until the Catholic Church purchased it in 1872.
The initial layout and landscaping of the cemetery was completed by Irish landscaper, Michael Lynch (1847–1918) who happens to also be buried at Holy Cross. Other notable projects of Lynch included the grounds of the Flood estate of Woodside; the Timothy Hopkins estate in Menlo Park; and he worked on Stanford University's landscaping. A section of the cemetery is made of only children's graves.
In 1953, the abandoned St. Dennis Cemetery of Menlo Park had their remains moved to Holy Cross, however only 24 of the 174 bodies were moved because the rest could not be found. In the 1950s and 1960s the cemetery was reconstructed under the leadership of John Kiefer and Edwin Kennedy.
Notable graves
Many of the early pioneer families of the Bay Area are buried at this cemetery.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)” as catholic cemetery in Menlo Park, California. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as catholic cemetery in Menlo Park, California. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q105533995. Authority coordinates are 37.435, -122.198. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1860, 1872, 1847 and 1918.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California) primary sources, Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California) archive and Holy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.