The 3-Century grave and a call to help the Mendocino Little River Cemetery District
“Hey, Bill! Let’s go see the 3-Century grave!” I said.
“What 3-Century grave?” Bill asked.
I replied, “My dad told me about it. Let’s go.”
Being 10 years old in Mendocino, one had many choices of what to do after school. Certain friends only liked doing certain things, whether it was going to the Beacon office to watch the latest edition being printed, playing in the woods behind Jackson Street or going to the bluffs to climb on the rocks — but today it would be the cemetery on the north side of town — Hillcrest Cemetery.
On Little Lake Road there were two entrances to Hillcrest Cemetery: there was the double-gated main entrance located near the middle point of the fence and the smaller single-gated entrance located at the southeast corner of the fence. We entered at the southeast corner and then walked about 80 paces toward the crest of the hill. There it was!
The white granite headstone with letters still easy to read displayed “Francisco Faria, born Feb 14, 1798, died Oct 31, 1904. He lived 105 years, 8 months and 14 days.”
Francisco had lived in three different centuries. That’s why we called it “the 3-Century grave.”
That moment happened over 50 years ago. Going to the cemetery was always an interesting adventure looking to see who we knew, what relatives we could find, or locating new graves to see if we knew them.
Cemetery district
Today when visiting the local cemeteries, I still look for names of persons I might have known, but there are so many unfamiliar names. There are more graves taking up what used to be plenty of
available space. Fortunately, we have an old family plot in Hillcrest and I know I have my space waiting for me.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for those who may want a burial plot in a particular location because space is running out!
The Little River Cemetery is full — no more plots are available.
These cemeteries are overseen by the Mendocino Little River Cemetery District which runs from Jug Handle Creek in Caspar to Navarro Ridge and inland at various points.
Monies received through taxes have decreased by 34 percent since 1991. Approximately 70 percent of tax money collected (about $35,000) covers Mendocino Little River Cemetery District cemetery expenses. Additional monies come through cemetery plot sales and/or donations. Total cemetery district funds are only sufficient enough to cover very basic cemetery maintenance and safety issues.
The Mendocino Little River Cemetery District is also required to collect endowments to fund longterm maintenance but is several years away from when the fund can make a significant contribution toward maintenance costs.
There are no funds available to acquire additional land.
The cemetery district board is looking ahead to the future and the need to acquire more land for burial space that will accommodate cremains, traditional and green burials. Certain land zoning requirements are also necessary to accommodate these burials. However, the district will have to rely upon our local district population for such donations.
Please help by contacting Laurie Hill at 707-4095007 to find out how one can assist with this worthy project.