THE FORGOTTEN: Abandoned Cemeteries of Route 66

Excerpts from The Desert Sun article by Ron Paschall:

They are tiny dots on internet maps and AAA guides, a speck that leads travelers to overlook them and focus on other destinations and big cities. Their names were well known 50, 75 years ago; Oro Grande, Ludlow, Amboy, Bagdad, Daggett, Helendale. Destinations and stops for weary travelers looking for food, water, rest and a break from the miles of empty roadway behind them. As an occasional vehicle or train passes by, some permanent residents have also been passed by, left to vandals, the elements, virtually all but forgotten in Route 66 cemeteries.

The Mother Road's cemeteries lay in a state of disrepair. Located on lonely hillsides, out of sight of the few cars that still travel the legendary road; they are the final resting place for those who came West, searching for a better life. Broken gates, dangling barbwire, and tilted wooden crosses are the first signs of our National Trails Highway cemeteries demise!

For those who found their resting place in roadside towns like Amboy, just outside of town, still within sight of the Roy's sign, lay the remains of several dozen souls. A weather beaten flag pole and slivers of a tattered American flag stand watch over the graves. Rows of hand made wooden crosses mark the graves of the town's former residents and visitors. A few have had stone placed in a circle over them, others are simply mounds of dirt and rock marking the grave.

But Amboy is but one of many, in need of a savior, a community, a government willing to step up and protect their hallowed grounds. The dedication of people like Albert Okura (who owns the Juan Pollo restaurant chain and Amboy) may be able to protect its forgotten graveyard. Amboy is one of the best known stops along The Mother Road and Mr. Okura is fighting an inspiring battle to restore this unique and historical stop back to its former glory.

Travel to Oro Grande and a search will lead you to a quiet hillside, within sight of the towns cement plant. There residents have fought a valiant battle to preserve the cemetery. Vigilant folks have had to endure hoodlums, cultists, the elements and even battled the cement plant to protect the resting place of loved ones. Wooden crosses and stone circles on top of shifting sand, mark the location of Oro Grande's graves, a few vandalized tombstones stand in defiance of the dreadful conditions inflicted on them over the years. Rumors of the cemetery being haunted have drawn the curious, the intoxicated, the bizarre and a few who have intentionally damaged tombstones.

Between Oro Grande and Amboy along Route 66 is Ludlow which continues to cling to existence thanks to its location. But besides stopping for gas, Ludlow does not call travelers to explore it. Abandoned buildings, crumbling adobe and stone walls and an earthquake damaged store stand in testament to a former life. Beyond the buildings, beyond the tracks, lies Ludlow's cemetery. Sagebrush and trees have found their way into the cemetery, often overtaking a grave with roots, trash and debris dangle from its branches. How many lay in rest here, thousands of miles from their home, their family?

Beyond the road, the railroad tracks, revealed only to the diligent searcher, lay Bagdad's cemetery. For those who found their resting place in this out-of-the-way patch of desert, isolation has been both a blessing and a curse. For Bagdad, even remoteness and the Penal Code has done little to prevent grave robbers from attempting to dig up the remains of these forgotten souls. Tattered cloth mix with sage brush, in a 4 foot hole where a grave was desecrated, leaving one to ponder in this inhospitable place, if the victim lay there exposed? A few stones, cans and makeshift crosses are all that cling to a dying effort to mark these graves.

For Route 66 cemeteries, their existence is also a convenient memory loss for those responsible for their care. Both the State Cemetery and Funeral Bureau and the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors seem oblivious to these resting places. Even though California's Health and Safety Code, place their care, management and supervision under the control of County Government, no time is given, no money is spent to protect and care for Route 66 graveyards.

Poignant questions that are left to the readers, concerned citizens and our elected officials to answer. The dead have no voice, except ours. Who will speak for them?

Ron Paschall
P.O. Box 7076
Redlands, CA 92375
(909) 798-7977

Haunted House Round-Up!

Every year around Halloween, the mainstream news dishes out the goods on the local haunts, so here is a briefing on this year's featured California Cold Spots:

The LA Times published a photo slide show on 5 Haunted Spots in California that covers The Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery in Colton, The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, Winchester Mystery House, Queen Mary in Long Beach, and Alcatraz National Park in San Francisco Bay.

The MSNBC report on Haunted Ski Resorts claims Mammoth Mountain is not haunted but nearby Bodie, CA is:

Mammoth Mountain, Calif., hasn't had any ghostly sightings in town or on the mountain, but the nearby ghost town of Bodie, Calif., is a state historical park. This ghost town has been preserved in a state of "arrested decay." I'm sure there are a handful of ghosts wandering these streets by night. Only problem for us mortals is that the park is closed around sundown. I wonder why?

The MSNBC report on Pet Cemeteries (Howling Haunts: Where Ghost Pets Play) highlights the Los Angeles Pet Cemetery and the Whaley House Museum among other national locales:

The Los Angeles Pet Cemetery - also known as L.A. Pet Memorial Park - on Old Scandia Lane in Calabasas, Calif., is the final resting place for many of Hollywood's famous animal actors including cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy's horse Topper and Petey the pitbull who starred in the movie Little Rascals. But it's silent movie star Rudolph Valentino's Great Dane named Kabar who is said to still walk through this hillside cemetery and playfully lick people who stop at his grave around Halloween.

The Whaley House Museum on San Diego Avenue in Old Town San Diego, Calif. is listed by the United States Department of Commerce as "an authentic haunted house". In fact, the Travel Channel's America's Most Haunted, claims it to be the number one most haunted house in the country. This classic example of mid-19th century Greek revival architecture was once the home of entrepreneur Thomas Whaley who came to California during the gold rush. Whaley's infant son Thomas Jr. died in an upstairs bedroom and visitors have reported hearing the cries of a baby coming from this room. The ghost of a small dog has also been seen coming and going from this bedroom, as well as outside the house in the yard.

The Dallas Morning News article, You'll Find These Hotels Haunting, covers the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park:

•Guests on Tauck's "California's Gold Coast" tour spend two nights in the rustic yet luxurious Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, but apparently some hotel guests have forgotten to check out – even after checking out. Tauck's Cindy Walker refuses to stay on the sixth floor, which is thought to be haunted by the ghost of Mary Curry Tressider. Tressider was instrumental in the hotel's development, and she lived in a sixth-floor apartment until her death in 1970. When President John F. Kennedy stayed on the third floor during a visit in 1962, a rocking chair was placed in his room so that he could rock and help alleviate his chronic back pain. After Mr. Kennedy's death, housekeepers began reporting seeing a chair rocking slowly in the room where the president had stayed, even though the room hasn't been furnished with a rocking chair since his visit.

Most Famous Haunted Hotels by MSNBC writes on the California's Paso Robles Inn and Sainte Claire Hotel:

In 1940, for example, a guest at California's Paso Robles Inn discovered a fire on the second floor of the hotel. He rushed downstairs, sounded the alarm and then died of a heart attack. But his actions led to all of the hotel's guests being evacuated. Today, the front desk receives mysterious calls from room 1007 and one night there was a call placed to 911 from the unoccupied room.

In the early Thirties, a young woman is to be married in the Sainte Claire Hotel in San Jose, California. Her fiancé leaves her at the altar, and that night she hangs herself in the hotel's basement. Today guests report hearing high-heeled footsteps against hardwood floors ... even though the hotel is carpeted.

And finally, Florida's Southwest Herald Tribune lists California haunted properties along with a text messaging service that provides their real estate values:

Try HouseFront.com, a real-estate search and valuation firm. Simply text message the home's address to 46873 (which spells "house"), and it will return the number of bedrooms, baths and the home's value -- even the date when it was last sold and/or built, along with the current owner's name. You can get the same information at www.housefront.com, all at no cost.

Manson Murders

The address also has been changed at the Beverly Hills, Calif., location where Charles Manson and "friends" slaughtered Sharon Tate, an actress who was eight-months pregnant, and four others in 1969. It's now 10066 Cielo Drive. But then, it's not the same house.

No one would purchase the Tate house because of the stigma it carried. So it was torn down and replaced with a seven-bedroom, 12-bath manse that sprawls over 16,300 square feet. HouseFront estimates its value at $7.4 million. Still, the chilling impact of the murders remains, as locals and tourists with a penchant for the macabre visit the site frequently (www.housefront.com/1993381).

Winchester House

Sarah Winchester, who inherited more than $20 million and a 49 percent stake in the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. from her husband, William, built this architectural marvel in San Jose, Calif., around-the-clock for nearly 40 years.

A medium told her to build a house for herself and never stop or she would die. Another account says that she believed the only way she could repent for the thousands of people killed by her family's rifles was to keep building. Either way, she built and built and built some more, from 1884, when she purchased a house under construction, until her death 38 years later.

The place started out as a six-bedroom house. But Sarah turned it into a monster mansion with 40 bedrooms, 40 staircases, 47 fireplaces and 1,257 windows (www.housefront.com/1976454).

Madrona Manor

Room 101 in the bed-and-breakfast at 1001 Westside Road in Healdsburg, Calif., is said to be haunted by a women dressed in black. Some guests are certain their possessions have been moved while they slept, and at least one dinner guest swears a ghost sat next to her and spoke.

The manor was built in 1880 by John Paxtron, whose corpse was kept in the house in a glass coffin by his grieving wife, Hannah, until her own death 15 years after his, according to HauntsofAmerica.blogspot.com. Later, one of their two sons committed suicide in the house. While the place was being turned into a bed-and-breakfast in the 1980s, workers complained they were being watched (www.housefront.com/1991256).