Local Secrets, Big Finds 2007 Pick
- January 17, 2008
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Rated 4 of 5 by
Local Secrets from New York, New York
This four-story neoclassical cemetery structure is located underneath some undoubtedly spooked out residents in the Richmond District. Built in 1898, the Columbarium stores "thousands of urns filled with burial ashes from some of the area's finest families." It was originally created for the Odd Fellows Cemetery, and incredibly, it survived the 1906 earthquake and a 1937 city ordinance that banned cemeteries in San Francisco. Now almost fully restored after "lying dormant, complete with mushrooms and raccoons, until 1979," the building's marble floors, stained-glass windows, and ceiling mosaics are certainly worth a visit. Our SF editors had no idea that this secret, underground spot even existed.