Gravestone Reclaimed, 22. Stock Photo

It was during the 1850`s of San Francisco`s Gold Rush period and her population of the living wes growing rapidly. So rapidly in fact, they had to remove the cemetery`s with the dead to nearby Colma to make room for more of the living. With the moving of the individual graves and accompanying tombstones, many went unclaimed, so the city took over ownership of the high quality stones, for all new purposes. San Francisco`s very first park, Buena Vista Park, originally called Hill Park, was established in 1867. Lining the drainage ditches are pieces of the old tombstones. Although the vast majority of the stones were the completely blank portions of the stones, as you keep looking, you will find here and there letters, numbers, and occasional word or geometric pattern.