El Campo Santo Cemetery
El Campo Santo Cemetery
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Address
Neighborhood: Old Town
How to get there
- Old Town Transit Center • 9 min walk
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1,106 within 3 miles
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538 within 6 miles
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
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4.0
21 reviews
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Saskheat
Saskatoon, Canada1,553 contributions
Aug 2015 • Family
The family wouldn't even set foot in here. This is a tiny little cemetary in "Old Town". Its not in the main walking plaza, its actually just to the east about a 1/2 block past the Whalley house on San Diego Ave on the north side of the street. We found it on the way to the San Diego County Sheriff's Museum. You can breeze thru here on 10-15 minutes, its really that small.
I found it fascinating, especially when some of the poeple were exectued for, by todays standards, fairly trivial things. The stone grave markers give it that "old west" feel, and it seemed right at home in "old Town". Stop by when on foot, if youre "that special type of person" who appreciates this kind of thing. I'll bet Halloween gets interesting around this place.
Thanks for reading and if you found something useful in here, please click helpful below. Godspeed!
I found it fascinating, especially when some of the poeple were exectued for, by todays standards, fairly trivial things. The stone grave markers give it that "old west" feel, and it seemed right at home in "old Town". Stop by when on foot, if youre "that special type of person" who appreciates this kind of thing. I'll bet Halloween gets interesting around this place.
Thanks for reading and if you found something useful in here, please click helpful below. Godspeed!
Written September 10, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
drswayd
Chicago, IL166 contributions
Sep 2020
We stumbled upon this place today and what an amazing experience. It is a very old cemetery that holds the remains of people born in the 1700's and who died in the 1800's. I think it is amazing to read little snippets about peoples lives that are placed on their graves. This is the place if you agree. There are native Indian's buried there with their life stories. There are two people (men) burred there that were hung for modest crimes by today's standards.
Written September 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark H
Lompoc, CA43 contributions
Jun 2018
We decided to spend a few days in Old Town San Diego. Our young son decided to get up early so collectively we decided to walk the town until the restaurant opened up. We found the El Campo Santo Cemetery. I've always been a history buff, so the wife and I decided to go in. No lie, I ran in to what appeared to be a Native American woman in the cemetery. I even said good morning. My wife asked why I just said that? I looked over and the woman was gone. Believe it or not that was only the first thing that happened to me on the visit..
Written January 6, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
minimacaz
Tucson, AZ45 contributions
Jul 2015
This is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, cemeteries in San Diego. It also has a reputation for being haunted, for all you ghost aficionados out there. It's a lot smaller than I expected, but still interesting to look at from either a paranormal or historical perspective. From the center of Old Town it's maybe 10 minutes' walk, but once you get there you have plaques explaining the historical significance, as well as the disturbing information that there were graves under San Diego Avenue that were never moved. Instead, they have markers on the sidewalks. Most of the graves in there are of ancient settlers to Old Town, or relatives. No one really famous, unless you count Yankee Jim (the ghost of Whaley House). Worth stopping by to see if you're in the area.
Written July 29, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachel S
Las Vegas, NV810 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
Small historic cemetery with new grave markers from the historic society. Would be nice if all the graves had updated markers. Some just have a fence around the grave but no signage, so you're not sure what you're looking at.
Some of the graves were where the street is now, so if you go right outside the walls of the graveyard, you'll see small, round, metal grave site markers on the sidewalk. I'm not sure what they did with the 200+ bodies that were moved when they put in a train depot across the street.
Visited: June 2023
Some of the graves were where the street is now, so if you go right outside the walls of the graveyard, you'll see small, round, metal grave site markers on the sidewalk. I'm not sure what they did with the 200+ bodies that were moved when they put in a train depot across the street.
Visited: June 2023
Written June 5, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GitchSup
Duluth, MN1,405 contributions
Apr 2022 • Couples
We stopped here after the Whaley house, it’s just a short walk. It’s a pretty cemetery that is very old but people still come to pay their respects. We enjoyed the quiet of this little section of the town.
Written May 6, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Evelyn O
El Paso, TX97 contributions
Sep 2019 • Couples
Spent a few days in old town San Diego for our anniversary.While out walking along the street came across this old cemetery in the middle of the block. It was very interesting reading the plaquards posted near many of the graves. Lots of youngsters and 20 somethings buried here. Many met their demise by hanging. One man hanged for stealing a row boat.
The original cemetery cut in half by the street and sidewalk. If you go look for the markers in the street and sidewalk designating the graves that were cut out of the current cemetery in order to insert the road and sidewalk.
The original cemetery cut in half by the street and sidewalk. If you go look for the markers in the street and sidewalk designating the graves that were cut out of the current cemetery in order to insert the road and sidewalk.
Written September 6, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Spinerz4
Indian Trail, NC405 contributions
Jan 2019 • Couples
Tonight my husband and myself were walking around Old Town in San Diego and came across this peaceful old cemetery. If you are interested in haunted/paranormal activity or history, this is were Yankee Jim is buried. His ghost is one of the ghost that is suppose to haunt the Whaley House. It was around 7 in the evening and getting dark, you were able to enter and walk around the small cemetery. Also, interesting fact: there are small brass markers outside of the cemetery walls that say "Grave Site". They are on the sidewalk and in the street, this is were the cemetery use to extend out farther, head stones where moved but not the bodies. Interesting place to visit.
Written January 27, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simple79
Appleton, WI64 contributions
Oct 2018 • Family
At first we weren’t exactly sure if it was real or not. It seemed so basic and not complete. But I think that’s the point.
Some of the graves have explanations but many do not. I missed if there was historical significance involved. Maybe we were lacking info going into it, as tourists that happened to stumble upon it.
Some of the graves have explanations but many do not. I missed if there was historical significance involved. Maybe we were lacking info going into it, as tourists that happened to stumble upon it.
Written October 27, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ydnar
Kamloops, Canada625 contributions
Sep 2018 • Couples
If you're planning on visiting the Whaley House museum, do that first and then come here as it will give the cemetery some context. As it was, it's a sad but intriguing place, a lot of dirt and stones and mostly very simple gravesites. It isn't a destination in itself but if you're in the area it is definitely worth a few minutes, puts a lot of other things into perspective. Also kind of freaky when you realize there are bodies under the sidewalk you were just walking on. Free admission.
Written October 3, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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