Alhambra Cemetery, Martinez

This cemetery is one of the oldest formal cemeteries in California and was originally called the Martinez Cemetery in 1850.  The City of Martinez took over the operation of the Alhambra Cemetery (5 acres) in the mid1970’s and Potter’s Field (3 acres) from the Contra Costa County in 1992.

As you walk through the Cemetery you will find the final resting place of Captain Joseph Rutherford Walker, the first non Native American to see into the Yosemite Valley, and Carolyn Holpin, the famous flame dancer known as “Papinta” You will also walk past names you’ll recognize like Rankin, Brown, Larkey, and more.  

Buried near Captain Walker, under a simple marker, is Eliza Notthingham, Her contribution to history is far from simple. As a nine year old, Eliza saved four year old Abraham Lincoln from drowning in a Kentucky creek.  Goosebumps will fill your arms when you realize that Eliza is buried directly across from “Hardy the Faithful,” a freed slave. 

There are an estimated 5500 people (and a few animals) buried in the Alhambra Cemetery, numerous undocumented and many without headstones.  The City inherited incomplete burial records from the Alhambra Cemetery Association (1869-1969).  It is also alleged that the County purged many of Potter’s Field records years in the 1920’s.   An exact number of burials may never be known.