History
The Big Pine Cemetery District is made up of dedicated members from the town of Big Pine, relying on the united support of the entire community to maintain a dignified, picturesque, and deeply historically significant asset that will continue to be cherished for generations to come.
Brief history of the Big Pine Cemetery District
1892 - Crocker Cemetery Established
James C. Crocker and Edwin M. Crocker sold this tract of land for a token five-dollar gold piece to Oliver Allerton, Alice Ober, and B.W. Thomas. They became the first Trustees for the Big Pine Cemetery on May 2, 1892.
1918 - Woodman Cemetery Established
September 8, 1917 the Big Pine Improvement Club conducted an emergency meeting. The purpose was to discuss the need of a new cemetery site, owning to the fact that the current cemetery was under water.
The Woodmen of The World purchased 15 acres of the McDonald & Naylor tract of land south of Big Pine to be used as a public cemetery in 1917. August 3, 1918, The Big Pine Citizen newspaper reported that the new Woodmen Cemetery was ready to deed new plots.
In a few years, drain ditches were dug around the Crocker cemetery which carried away the water and the cemetery was ready for new burials.
1930 - Big Pine Cemetery District formed by Inyo County Supervisors
The Big Pine Cemetery was established by the Inyo County Supervisors on July 10, 1930 with the governing board of three trustees: A. R. McDonald, John Fiehman, and Carrie G. Crocker.
2022 - Inyo County Hospital and Farm Site Dedicated
Around the 1900s, Inyo County provided a County Hospital and working farm on 80 acres. The purpose of the farm was to help people who had fallen on hard times be self-sufficient and provide medical care. The County Farm was still in use as both a Tuberculosis Sanatorium and Home for the aged in the 1940s. Many who died there during that time were buried somewhere on the property.
The resident's exact burial spots are unknown, however in 2022, the Big Pine Cemetery District placed permanent grave markers (cenotaphs) to acknowledge the residents who died and were buried at the Farm Cemetery.
Crocker Cemetery
The earliest burials are believed to have been made in the late 1860's with the oldest legible headstone dated 1874. James C. and Edwin M. Crocker gave the cemetery property for a token five-dollar gold piece to Oliver Allerton, Alice Ober, and B.W. Thomas, as Trustees for the people of the town of Big Pine on May 2, 1892.
Many of the early wooden headstones and crosses have been lost to wind, rain, snow, earthquakes, and floods resulting in almost 200 unmarked graves. A "Pioneer Memorial" has been established to honor those who lie in graves whose markers simply state, "Unknown but not forgotten."
Woodman Cemetery
The Woodmen of The World No 506 Fraternal Order of Big Pine purchased fifteen acres of the McDonald & Naylor tract of land south of Big Pine in 1917 to be used as a public cemetery.
Inyo County Hospital and Farm Burial Site
Around the 1900's, Inyo County, California provided a County Hospital and working farm on 80 acres in Big Pine. The purpose of the farm was to help people who had fallen on hard times be self-sufficient and provide medical care. The County Farm was still in use as both a Tuberculosis Sanatorium and Home for the aged in the 1940s. The building was eventually converted into the Big Pine Care Center which was in use until 2000.
The resident's exact burial spots are unknown, however in 2022, the Big Pine Cemetery District placed permanent grave markers (cenotaphs) to acknowledge the residents who died and were buried at the Farm Cemetery. Sources for the names added were obtained from newspaper clippings and county death certificates.
