Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California Pomona Spadra Cemetery

Spadra Cemetery

This graveyard is the eternal home of the residents of a vanished California town.

Pomona, California

Added By
Joanna
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Spadra Gravestone   Avoiding Regret
Spadra Gravestone   Avoiding Regret
Spadra Gravestone   Avoiding Regret
Grave of pioneer Louis Phillips   Avoiding Regret
Peacefully paved in Pomona.   James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
Cemetery gate   dsewers / Atlas Obscura User
In Southern California, even the cemeteries are paved.   James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
Peacefully paved in Pomona.   James Ricci / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

This well-hidden cemetery in Los Angeles County once serviced the frontier town of Spadra.

Originally part of the sprawling Rancho San Jose land grant, the area was settled by lower class families escaping poverty and war in the American South. The town of Spadra was officially founded in 1866. According to the blog Avoiding Regret, settlers in the surrounding Pomona Valley referred to Spadra by the horrific name “Monkeytown.”

Despite the insulting prejudice, the village was soon thriving and lively, boasting many “firsts,” including the first school district in east Los Angeles County. By 1870, Spadra had three stores, warehouses, blacksmiths, a school, and a post office. It was an important stage coach stop between Los Angeles and Yuma, Arizona. But the town had its share of drama, which included many mysterious deaths, suicides, and murders, which no doubt helped necessitate a community graveyard to service the town.

In 1873, Spadra pioneer rancher and developer Louis Phillips signed a contract with the Southern Pacific to build a railway line to Spadra. In 1875, Phillips built a grand mansion in the village, which still exists today. But the great town Phillips envisioned was not to be. Shortly after it reached Spadra, the railroad line was extended again. Now it ran all the way to the city of Colton in the Inland Empire. It was no longer prudent to stop in Spadra, and the town soon began to shrink. As it shrunk, the graveyard continued to fill up with residents, including Louis Phillips himself, who was buried there in the year 1900.   

Spadra's other claim to fame was as the site of the Pacific Colony, a California state hospital for the "feeble-minded" established in 1920. Locals unkindly referred to those they considered of diminished capacity as Spads.

Eventually, Spadra was annexed by the neighboring town of Pomona in 1964. Today, industrial buildings stand in the place of the town's original structures. Other than the Phillips Mansion, the cemetery is all that remains of Spadra. It sits behind a locked gate, down a dirt road and across well-worn train tracks. Many of the graves have had their headstones broken by vandals. Some graves have been cemented over to prevent further vandalism. Even Louis Phillips’ grave has been toppled and vandalized. The cemetery serves as a poignant reminder that “the best laid plans of mice and men/go oft awry."

Related Tags

Cemeteries Gravestones Wild West Ghost Towns Graves

Know Before You Go

The entrance to Spadra Cemetery shares a driveway with Altec Southern California Service Rentals, which is about 100 feet east of the 57 Freeway. The graveyard is located 500 feet south of the entrance gate, across a set of railroad tracks. The cemetery is on private property and venturing onto its grounds is trespassing. The Historical Society of Pomona Valley often leads guided tours of the cemetery.

Community Contributors

Added By

Joanna

Edited By

Avoiding Regret, hrnick, ric0, Hadley Meares...

  • Avoiding Regret
  • hrnick
  • ric0
  • Hadley Meares
  • James Ricci
  • dsewers

Published

March 18, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=200471.0
  • http://www.avoidingregret.com/2012/11/photo-essay-where-dead-rest-in-dead.html
  • http://www.dailybulletin.com/lifestyle/20141027/artful-spadra-tombstone-offers-few-answers-to-70-year-old-questions
  • http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2015/10/16/spadra-cemetery/
Spadra Cemetery
2850 Pomona Blvd.
Pomona, California
United States
34.051414, -117.800921
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

'Dividing the Light'

Claremont, California

miles away

Egyptian Building

Chino Hills, California

miles away

Rubel Castle

Glendora, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pomona

Pomona

California

Places 2

Nearby Places

'Dividing the Light'

Claremont, California

miles away

Egyptian Building

Chino Hills, California

miles away

Rubel Castle

Glendora, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pomona

Pomona

California

Places 2

Related Places

  • Boothill Cemetery.

    Tombstone, Arizona

    Boothill Graveyard

    A wild west cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona, provides a window into the Old West.

  • The actual tombstone of Billy the Kid

    Fort Sumner, New Mexico

    Grave of Billy the Kid

    The final resting place of the most famous outlaw in the Old West.

  • The grave.

    El Paso, Texas

    John Wesley Hardin's Grave

    A prison-like structure guards the remains of a notorious Old West outlaw.

  • The Barnes grave.

    Ashmore, Illinois

    St. Omer Cemetery Witch Grave

    This grave in a ghost town cemetery marks the death of a witch on a day that never happened.

  • Cemetery entrance

    Astoria, Oregon

    Hillside Cemetery

    This graveyard is the eternal home of many brave pioneers who settled the Great Northwest.

  • Tilden, Texas

    Boot Hill Cemetery

    "They died with their boots on."

  • “ANDREAS MORGENRØDT – Time Traveller – 1996–2064”

    Copenhagen, Denmark

    The Time Traveler's Grave

    Hidden in plain sight, a gravestone seemingly inscribed from the future stands among the cemetery’s historic tombs.

  • Scrabble Grave, Helen Cornelius Bowden

    Park Ridge, Illinois

    Scrabble Grave

    A board game enthusiast's love for the game, memorialized forever.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.