At Old Town Cemetery, every tombstone is decorated for Día de los Muertos.
Marigolds, colorful artwork and offerings transform this historic cemetery into a place where the dead are brought back into the story of the living, more than 400 people are buried here.
It's San Diego’s first cemetery, established in 1849, a final resting place for people who helped shape the community we know today. Their stories take center stage on the Day of the Dead.
“The tradition there is to honor our ancestors and give them some recognition and that's pretty much what we've done annually every year,” said Connie Rascon Gunther, chair of Descendants of Early San Diego.
Connie Rascon Gunther with Descendants of Early San Diego has a really cool job. She helps curate the cemetery, preserve its history and find creative ways to make the people buried here more than just names on a stone.
But here in Old Town, remembering the dead isn’t just a Día de los Muertos tradition. It’s a story told all year long.
Marcus Fisher, known on his ghost tours as Tecolote, brings the cemetery’s more haunting tales to life.
And while the stories may send a chill down your spine, he says there’s a bigger reason to tell them.
“We tell these stories of the dead so that way the living don't make their mistakes,” said Fisher, ghost host with Ghosts & Gravestones of San Diego.
Take Yankee Jim, a man whose story has become part of Old Town’s ghostly lore.
According to the tale told on these tours, he was sentenced to death after an attempted boat robbery.
“That doesn’t sound like a serious crime now but it’s like a grand theft auto of today,” Fisher said.
Legends like his blend the history of Old Town with the mystery that still draws people here.
“We reignite people's imagination, appreciation for history, and again, los muertos get paid with the stories that we tell,” Fisher said.
And sometimes, those stories lead people back to their own families.
Connie and her team help people trace their family trees, including those who simply want to know whether their ancestors are buried here. They’ve even built a genealogy website to help preserve family histories and protect personal information.
“In fact, we have our own genealogy website that we set up so that we can preserve some of those family trees,” Gunther said. It’s a way to connect generations and make sure the people who came before us aren’t lost to time.
Now, the group is looking ahead to more improvements, hoping to make the stories here easier to find and the cemetery a safer, more educational place for the community.
“We're also looking to do some improvements to this location, so we want those suggestions coming in,” Gunther said.
On Día de los Muertos, the flowers may bring people here. The ghost stories may keep them listening. But it’s the history and the families still working to preserve it that keeps these lives from being forgotten.
