[5] Pressure to close the complex began around the beginning of the twentieth century, and by 1941 all remains within it had been moved elsewhere, mostly to a new necropolis in Colma, California,[5][4] though some were never accounted for.

[7] The paths between the graves were named after known East Coast cemeteries, including Mount Auburn, Green-Wood, and Oak Hill.

[12] In 1866, a news story ran that stated "the Lone Mountain cemetery was rapidly filling up, creating deadly gasses" due to the large quantity of remains decomposing.

[13] The idea started circulating in the 1880s that the cemeteries needed to be moved outside of the city; complaints were made primarily by the nearby property owners who were concerned that the area would discourage any new development in the neighborhood, and for safety.

[5] In 1894, J. H. Bond, the editor of the local Richmond Banner newspaper, started to promote the removal of these cemeteries with a move to Colma due to the decay of the gravestones.

[9][8] Bond had been vocal on this issue for two decades and supported the common idea (for its time) that cemeteries "planted germs of disease in the organs of breathing life.

[9] In 1902, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors had passed a law to prohibit the sale of grave lots or to permit any new burials within the city.

[16] The Lone Mountain Cemetery (active from 1854 to c. 1940) was 55.4 acres at the time of founding and was located between California, Euclid, Masonic and Arguello Streets.

[4] As a result, Lone Mountain Cemetery was renamed to Laurel Hill Cemetery, with the filing of the articles of incorporation by many wealthy locals, including William Chapman Ralston, John Parrott, Henry Huntly Haight, Nicholas Luning, James Otis, Alvinza Hayward, Henry Mayo Newhall, and C. C.

[2] In 1848, Phineas Gage had survived a work accident when a large iron rod driven was completely through his head, destroying parts of his brain and skull.

[23] Some of the other notable pioneer burials at this site included Judge Silas W. Sanderson;[24] politician, Samuel Williams Inge;[25] lawyer, Thomas W. Sutherland; lawyer Thomas O. Larkin; surgeon and University of California, San Francisco founder Hugh H. Toland; the builder of the first wharf in the city, Squire Clark; an early sheriff, David Scannell; newspaper editor, James King of William; Commodore James Thomas Watkins; founder of Woodward's Gardens, Robert B. Woodward; the inventor of the cable car, Andrew Smith Hallidie; politician, James Van Ness; U.S.

Senator, John Percival Jones; San Francisco mayor, James Otis;[11] businessman, William Chapman Ralston;[26] and U.S.

[4][5] 35,000 of the Laurel Hill remains were removed between 1939 and 1940, and placed in redwood coffins, and were taken to Colma; where they were stored for six years in Cypress Abbey Mausoleum.

[5] Notable graves at Masonic Cemetery included Emperor Norton,[5] James A. Johnson,[39] and Thomas Bowles Shannon.

[1] Many of the remains had been unaccounted for, and during three different occasions of campus building and renovations (which included USF's Gleeson Library, Hayes-Healy residence hall, and the John Lo Schiavo, S.J.

[41] The Odd Fellows Cemetery (active from 1864 to 1933) was approximately 27 acres located between Geary, Turk, Parker, and Arguello Streets.

[5] In 1933, the 26,000 buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in San Francisco were moved to Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

[1] A casket and the remains of two-year-old Edith Howard Cook, who had died in 1876 and was buried at Odd Fellows Cemetery, was discovered in 2016 under a house in the Richmond District.

Edith was reburied in a public ceremony at Greenlawn Memorial Park with the assistance of the Garden of Innocence organization in Colma, California.