Sac History Happenings: Stonecutters celebrated and lost markers dedicated at Historic Cemetery

Sac History Happenings

News and developments in Sacramento and California history

June 1, 2012

Stonecutters celebrated and lost markers dedicated at Historic Cemetery

Sacramento's early gravemarkers were works of art in marble and granite. Visitors at this Saturday's tour will see some of the most beautiful hand-carved stones in the Historic City Cemetery. Knowledgeable docents will explain the stories and symbols behind the artifacts.

Later on Saturday the City Cemetery will reunite "lost" gravemarkers that were separated from the graves of early Sacramentans who were originally buried in the defunct New Helvetia Cemetery. The dedication ceremony will feature monuments connected to the Reeves, Jurgens, Asch and Bonetti families.

Valley Community Newspapers recently published a story about the rediscovery of the Asch Family tombstone lost for some 50 years.

What: Stonecutters: Sacramento's First Artists / Lost and Found: New Helvetia Revisited
Where: Historic City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway, Sacramento
When: June 2. Stonecutters, 10 a.m. New Helvetia Dedication, 11:30 a.m.
Cost: free, but donations greatly appreciated to help with cemetery restoration
For more info: (916) 264-5621 or website

News release (New Helvetia)
News release (Stonecutters)

PHOTO CREDIT: Ersiglio Bonetti Monument. This gravemarker was brought into the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery approximately 20 years ago by a homeowner who found it in the yard of a home he had recently purchased. Courtesy Old City Cemetery Committee

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California and Sacramento have a long, rich, vibrant history. And our region is blessed with an abundance of historical resources maintained by museums, libraries, archives and societies. This blog aims to alert readers to the latest developments in local/state historical education and research.

Send tips concerning upcoming exhibits, tours, lectures and meetings, as well as new books, magazine articles and online collections to the blog's contributors.

The Contributors:

Michael Dolgushkin

Michael Dolgushkin is Manuscript Librarian at the California State Library History Section. He is co-author of San Francisco's California Street Cable Cars and is a frequent contributor to the California State Library Foundation Bulletin. Contact him at mdolgushkin@library.ca.gov.

Amanda Graham is a Certified Archivist working in the Sacramento Room of the Sacramento Public Library. She earned a BS in History from Southern Oregon University and a MS in Information Studies with an emphasis in archives from The University of Texas at Austin. Contact her at agraham@saclibrary.org.

Pete Basofin is Director of Editorial Research at The Sacramento Bee. He previously worked at The St. Petersburg Times and Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune. Contact him at pbasofin@sacbee.com.

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