EPIC OLD 1800’s Grave Exploring - Santa Clara Mission Cemetery!

[@dsouza4746]

I grew up in Santa Clara. That area used to be mostly Italian and Portuguese. You will notice that the names of the older tombs are from those countries mostly. My family is from Madeira. All my aunts, uncles and grandparents are buried there. Sadly, two years ago, My 34 year old son was killed by a drunk driver and is also there. I live far away now but I go back monthly to visit him and my family members. I remember my “Avoa” (grandmother) walking me through the cemetery as a child to visit her cousins. Someday, I will join my family and be put to rest there as well.

[@mrgorman47]

You do these so respectful. Thanks

[@newlam7958]

Hi That person was me. There is an underground mausoleum under the chapel. I went down there in 1982. There were steps on the south side that lead to an iron gate. I was able to squeeze though the bars being a skinny young man back then. Being a history buff, I brought a Kodak instamatic camera, but only one picture came out, despite using flash cubes. I lost that picture over time and never found it. It only showed a small section of the vaults and you can't even see any engraving on them. For more detail of the place, On the first landing of stairs, there is a small chamber on the right with about 8 or so vaults. One dating around 1883. At the bottom of the stairs, the whole chapel underground is a mausoleum. There was no lights, so I had to use a flash light. Very creepy. The vaults as I remember are about 5 or 6 vaults high in the chamber. The earliest vault I saw was dated 1876. And the latest were in the early1950's. The chapel was built in 1901 over the mausoleum. Right down the steps in the main chamber, it looked like more crypts were being built in the center, but never completed. It looked very old and poorly done and not completed. On the right in the back of this chamber is a long hallway with vaults on both sides, leading to another chamber area about the same size as the first chamber where the gates were. This area is likely under the area of the chapels front doors. There was one vault in the mausoleum on the bottom row that was opened up. It looked like someone was disientered over time. The main slab had a women's name who was a native of Sicily and died in 1922 leaning against the wall. Two 6 foot 2 x 4's were in the vault. Indicating that is how the caskets are slid in the vault. The bricks for the crypt was neatly stacked next to the empty vault. Family members most likely had her coffin removed to another location.The steps to the mosoluem was built over with walls and now has a door. You can't event tell there is a mosoleum. There was a book published in 2005 titled "Images of America, Cemeteries of Santa Clara by Bea Lichtenstein about this cemetery and the other Mission Cemetery across the road from Winchester Blvd.

[@CryptDoor]

Yeah, I remember you said you thought you had a picture of it or something.

[@im413]

I truly appreciate you reading off their names, date of birth, date of death, and especially showing their portraits. I feel that you are keeping their memory alive forever. God bless you

[@CryptDoor]

Thank you for watching!👍

[@SR-zi6eo]

Loved these unusual crypts; thank you so much for taking us. That chapel is beautiful also. God bless! ….🌝

[@brendacanter9768]

Love the old ones. Love from Texas❤️

[@brendakrieger7000]

Loved this tour🪦🪦🪦

[@tejloro]

The tomb at around the 2:50 mark are called Oven tombs or Oven crypts. The person is placed in the tomb for a year or so (or until the tomb is needed again. then the bones are removed, bundled and slid to the far back where there is often a hole in the bottom leading to a holding pit/sump that the bones go in. Then a new body is placed in and the cycle repeats. The Ask A Mortician channel has a video about this style of tomb (kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3KZfItorJKXqdU)...

[@CryptDoor]

That was kind of my guess as well but then they kind of looked a little different then some of the ones I’ve seen in the past

[@verasandin3599]

I like the idea of the smaller mausoliums. Great idea.

[@newmanoutdoors1564]

Love this type of content , Enjoyed

[@donaldmilhoan6379]

I enjoyed this video. Thank you!

[@CathyTx2001]

I'd love to walk through this cemetery. Thanks for posting this one!

[@geebee380]

I've been walking through this cemetery everyday for the past month and I haven't found these places! 🤦

[@janetslicer3637]

I loved this very unique cemetery. I hope you go back and investigate a lot more. I find all of the different burial sites as different as probably the people inside. A very special place; one of my favorites.

[@cemeteriesdownunder9247]

loved this old cemetery Cryptdoor , thankyou for your support gave you a shout out of thanks on my last video x

[@CryptDoor]

Cool. Thank you I’ll go check it out I’ve just been working a lot the last couple days

[@cemeteriesdownunder9247]

@@CryptDoor it's all good my freind I know the feeling , I have that problem too lol

[@CryptDoor]

@@cemeteriesdownunder9247 Yeah it takes me some time to get caught up sometimes on everybody

[@cathycousins3353]

Great video Tony

[@letsbeecozy]

Wow how unique!

[@helenaopal]

So cool!

[@CryptDoor]

Thank you

[@Liz_678]

Very interesting 🤔. How do they so many in those?

[@simonsharp4696]

There seems to be a lot of Italian names in American cemeteries.....

[@dm607]

Was there anyone near you @ 18:28 Tony? A womans voice saying what sounded like "just a question". If those tombs are like the ones in New Orleans, the remains of the first are usually pushed to the back where they drop down, making room for the newest internment. They work a bit like an oven, because the heat they collect hastens decomp.

[@CryptDoor]

I hit a button on my iPhone and that was Siri wondering if I wanted to know something lol sorry

[@dm607]

@@CryptDoor Phew!!

[@CryptDoor]

@@dm607 haha I know. But hearing voices In that part of the cemetery wouldn’t surprise me because that section was right next to the street that cemetery is located as you saw in the downtown area

[@skepticalbadger]

Geo. As in "George".

[@jjhyde5179]

i was wondering if the In Memorium meant for the souls in purgatory or just in general

[@janeta.9914]

In memory of the Faithful Departed

[@jessr2201]

Very odd how the Browns all died close together.

[@geebee380]

What do u think happened

[@brendashaw2035]

How do they fit more than 2 caskets in those?

[@CryptDoor]

I was thinking maybe they go underground more I don’t know

[@biarritz84]

Those smaller family mausoleums probably are never opened up again after the last space has been used or the last person has been interred in them. The nice thing is that you are able to see inside some of them but others are completely sealed up & nobody will ever see the inside of them ever again possibly.