Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

Historic rural cemetery in Colma, California, since 1892 — final resting place of William Randolph Hearst and Levi Strauss, in a town where the dead vastly outnumber the living.

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is a rural cemetery established in 1892 in Colma, California — a small city in San Mateo County proverbially known as the City of the Silent because the dead vastly outnumber the living. Founded by Hamden Holmes Noble, it follows the English landscape garden style promoted in the 19th century as a dignified alternative to overcrowded urban cemeteries. Buried here are numerous notable San Francisco figures, including William Randolph Hearst and Levi Strauss. The cemetery stands as a testament to the late 19th-century burial reform movement and to the history of San Francisco.