[1] Following a series of land purchases starting in 1890, Forest Lake Cemetery was chartered and opened in 1895, but by 1913 few bodies were buried there.

[1] In 1913, after going bankrupt in the wake of a failed 1908 sale to a developer, 130 acres (53 ha) of the 400-acre (160 ha) Forest Lake Cemetery were sold to form the Cedar Hill Cemetery.

[2][3] Over time, the cemetery was expanded, and it is now over 150 acres (61 ha) in size.

[citation needed] From 1936 to 1938, Dionicio Rodriguez, a Mexican builder and artist, built six pieces in concrete at Cedar Hill, most using a faux bois technique to make them resemble wood.

[4] The cemetery has a mass grave for the victims of the Terra Cotta Railroad wreck.