| Union Cemetery | |
| Nrhp Type: | nrhp |
| Coordinates: | 37.4738°N -122.2233°W |
| Map Label: | Union Cemetery |
| Added: | August 25, 1983 |
| Refnum: | 83001237 |
| Designated Other1: | California |
| Designated Other1 Date: | 1967 |
| Designated Other1 Number: | 816 |
Union Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Woodside Road (CA 84) near El Camino Real in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California. The cemetery was named a California Historical Landmark #816 in 1967, then added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Founded in 1859, this is the site of the first American burial ground in San Mateo County, and was originally located just outside the town limits of Redwood City.[1] [2] The cemetery officially closed in 1918, but it was used for many years after that for burial of the poor. There are special cemetery plots for the Masonic Order, members of the International Order of Odd Fellows and the California volunteers who fought during the Civil War.[1]
The life-sized metal sculpture of a civil war veteran was erected during 1889 for a Memorial Day celebration, the earliest such celebration on the Peninsula. The statue was paid for by Jane Lathrop Stanford.[3] It was vandalized in 1958, 1959 and 1969, but was subsequently repaired, and in 1999 it was replaced with a replica constructed of more durable material.
| Historic markerFile:Union Cemetery (Redwood City, CA) GAR Memorial viewed diagonally.jpg | Memorial statueFile:Union Cemetery (Redwood City, CA) GAR plot.jpg | Grand Army of the Republic memorialFile:Union Cemetery (Redwood City, CA) view west.jpg | View westFile:Union Cemetery (Redwood City, CA) George Edgar Filkins Headstone.jpg | Headstones at cemetery |