Laurel Cemetery, Murrieta, Riverside County, CA

Submitted by Robert “Red” Mulvanny on 4 March 2008.

The following article is from a compilation of sources.

The Laurel Cemetery site lies in the evening shadow of the Santa Rosa Plateau at the west 
end of Ivy Street in Murrieta.  Its elevation provides a panoramic view of the Murrieta Valley.  
It is neighbor to chaparral-covered wilderness, the remnants of an old olive grove and a lovely 
modern ranch.

History tells of burial grounds in Murrieta before the year 1886, when a baby was buried on the 
land that is now the Thoroughbred Paradise horse ranch and of the burial of some early settlers 
on the hill where Mr. and Mrs. Mack Stone now have their home.  These remains were later moved 
to the present site.  Cemetery records were lost for many years until Mike Mance, because of his 
interest in Murrieta history, located the deed to the property and uncovered many items of interest 
for the present cemetery trustees.  The 10 acres of land for the cemetery was purchased in 1886 
for one gold dollar from the Temecula Land and Water Company. 

The deed reads:  “Temecula Land and Water Company, a corporation formed under the laws of the 
State of California, will sell to A.B. Burnett, C.J. Davis, R.W. Bollen, D.L. Connell and H.B. Lashlee, all 
of Murrieta, for the sum of one dollar U.S. gold coin, all that real property situated in the County of 
San Diego (Riverside County was not established until 1893), State of California described as follows:  
To wit commencing at a point 1650 ft. from the intersection of Hayes Avenue with Ivy Street in 
westerly direction along said Ivy Street, thence southerly 660 ft. to a point thence westerly 660 ft. 
to a point on Ivy Street, thence along said Ivy Street in easterly direction 660 ft. to the point of 
beginning, said to contain 10 acres or more or less, situated in the Murrieta Portion of the Temecula 
Rancho, County of San Diego, State of California”.

After the deed was given to the trustees in 1886, community spirit prevailed in caring for the burial 
plot.  Groups would take picnic baskets and spend the better part of a day with hoes and rakes 
keeping the graveyard neat and clean.  Notes taken from the records of the historical society which 
was incorporated as the Murrieta Historical Society in 1913 give the following information about the 
cemetery:

Apr. 21, 1913, Mr. Foret moved the board of directors take steps to acquire possession of cemetery 
land.

Oct. 21, 1913, Urban Tarwater to check on cemetery ownership and management of property.

Dec. 16, 1913, Historical Society trying to determine ownership of cemetery.

Mar. 19, 1914, M.W. Thompson reported no records of Murrieta Cemetery at Riverside County Court 
House.  A.K. Small stated that cemetery was deeded to a board of trustees and deed on record in 
San Diego County.

Oct. 20, 1914, G.L. Black, clerk, reported receipt of a deed to the Murrieta Cemetery made to the 
board of directors of the Historical Society and signed by Messrs. C.L. Davis and H.B. Lashlee

Feb. 16, 1915, G.L. Black read a resolution passed by the county board of supervisors placing the 
Murrieta Cemetery in the hands of the Historical Society to be looked after and managed by the 
society.  Board of directors moved G.L. Black, clerk, write Mr. Davis for whatever cemetery money 
he held in his possession.  Clerk was to call on Mr. Zimmerman to get plot records of cemetery.

May 18, 1915, Sylvia Miller, clerk, made a motion to sell cemetery lots at a rate of $10 per family 
and $2 for singles.

Jan 16, 1923, in Town Hall, Urban Tarwater to take care of staking out the cemetery and appoint 
helpers.  Committee composed of Mrs. A.K. Small, Mrs. Blanche Anderson and Mrs. Sarah Thompson 
to get in touch with those interested in improvement of the cemetery and collect funds for same.

June 23, 1924, mass meeting called because of the fire that destroyed the historical hall.  Burns 
sec’y.

May 15, 1928, Nellie Thorne Thompson clerk, W.C. Anderson and Mrs. Stroup were to check the 
cemetery clean-up campaign.  Willis Thompson top see Mr. Barnett in regards to state and county 
money for cemetery work. 

March 19, 1929, Willis Thompson reported an association had to be formed to get aid from county 
or state.

In May, 1938, the cemetery district was organized in Murrieta.  In June of that year, Rose Tarwater 
was appointed secretary, which office she held until 1961, with Floyd Rail and the late Amos Sykes 
as trustees.

Sept. 1938, a mass meeting of all property owners and owners of lots and records was held.
Aug. 4, 1939, Walt Borden and Elmo Dunham drilled a well.
In 1940 and 1941, the Murrieta Machine Shop sold fencing to the cemetery district, the windmill 
was sold to the board by Vic Garrison, fence links were installed.  Frank Burnham sold the district 
the gates and posts and Cecil Rail set the posts.  In the spring of 1942, a tank house of bricks 
was built, shrubbery purchased from Yung’s Nursery in Elsinore was planted and the beautiful roses 
were planted in March of 1944 by rose lovers in Murrieta.  Six hundred feet of irrigation pipe was 
purchased from the Fallbrook Hardware was installed. Faithful caretakers spent many hours 
cultivating the shrubs and trees and keeping the cemetery neat and for their benefit, a shed for 
storing of garden tools was built in March of 1945.

Some markers were burned during a fire and were not replaced, but there still are wooden markers 
in this cemetery which go back many, many years.  Each generation has a different style of marker 
or tombstone and following the modern day trend, smaller stones are being used.
Rose Tarwater, who had served twenty-three years as secretary resigned in 1961, was replaced by 
Raymond I. Thompson; Willis Thompson Sr. who served for eleven years also resigned in 1961, and 
was replaced by Howard Sykes; the third director is Howard Morrow.

An interesting part of the Murrieta cemetery story concerns the horse-drawn hearse used for funerals.  
George Ward, one-time Riverside undertaker apparently was the first owner of the hearse having 
purchased it in 1888.  It was used in Riverside until 1910 when it was taken to Murrieta.  George H. 
Griffis drove the hearse in Murrieta and kept the elegant hearse, finished in leather interior and 
tassel-draped windows, in his barn near Kalmia and Second Avenue.  Besides the usual funerals, 
sometimes a corpse for the Murrieta cemetery arrived by train.  Mr. Griffis transported the corpse to 
the cemetery.  As time passed, the hearse was no longer used and Mr. Griffis stored it in his garage.  
He stored it, polished and preserved the leather interior for two decades.  Thelma Bronson, a 
granddaughter, told of the fun she had as a child letting her playmates inside the fancy hearse.  Of 
course her grandfather never knew about it.  Years later, Mr. Griffis was asked to return the hearse 
in exchange for a promise that when he died, he would be buried at no cost.  In exchange for one 
dollar to make it lawful, they made a deal and he returned the hearse.  E.H. Preston of Riverside 
rediscovered the hearse and entered it in a parade in May of 1940, when it was judged to be 
approximately fifty years old.  At the present time (1963), it is located in San Bernardino. 
Laurel Cemetery is a non-profit public cemetery subsidized by property taxes. Only Murrieta residents 
can be buried there. A board of trustees governs the cemetery. Before the current cemetery office 
was built, cemetery staff used a corner of the machine shop on Washington Avenue, owned by 
Murrieta historian Arlene Garrison.

Sources:
Garrison, Arlean, “My Children’s Home, A History of Murrieta, California”, 1963
Boyce, Mary Alice Rail, Murrieta Old Town/New Town, A Community History, 1995