My camera takes me places I wouldn’t ordinarily visit or think of visiting. However, early on my in my camera toting days one of my groups arranged an outing to the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery, and I’ve been hooked ever since. This week, John has given me a platform to show you some of the beauty and history hidden at this cemetery.

The cemetery was established in 1849 when Sacramento founder John Augustus Sutter, Jr. donated 10 acres (4.0 ha) to the city for this purpose. It was declared a State Historic Landmark on May 5, 1957, by the State Historical Landmarks Commission. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

Let’s start with the most poignant sites that touched my heart. We can accept when an adult passes, but our hearts go out to the families who have lost children. Note that on Eddy’s gravestone, they put how old the child was in years, months and days.

You don’t see monuments as tall as these in cemeteries any more. These are in great shape, but some are broken and in need of repair. I guess it’s up to the families to do upkeep on monuments. I would assume the families have passed away also.

Some family groups are gated off, and are given fancy farewells.

My last monument is dedicated to those who lost their lives and homes in the devastating Camp Fire in 2018. One resident who lost his home to that fire and relocated to our community took us up there to see the devastation first hand. The blame for this fire landed on Pacific Gas and Electric. The company now turns off electric during high wind storms. The community built this monument to never forget.

The 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California‘s Butte County was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The blaze began on the morning of November 8, 2018 when hardware on a poorly maintained Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) transmission line in the Feather River Canyon failed during strong katabatic winds. Those winds rapidly drove the Camp Fire through the communities of Concow, Magalia, Butte Creek Canyon and Paradise, mostly destroying them.

My camera continues to take me places familiar and not. This year we haven’t been too active because of a back injury–me not the Fuji! But my Fuji keeps whispering that it wants to be taken out. I guess I’ll have to listen! When you share your monuments and landmarks, be sure to link to John’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Thanks John for this monumental challenge! Last week we shared memories and beautiful pictures of them. Next week, Sofia leads the challenge, so look for her post. In the meantime, stay safe and be resilient.