Exact origins aside, locals and visitors alike are taken by the authentic historic atmosphere of what is essentially an enchanting city park.

Here in our back yard, the fabric of the town’s rich history is hidden right in plain sight.The 80 acres (32 ha)[4] that comprise Mountain Cemetery were owned by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo.

While the earliest burials at the site started in the 1840s, the origins of the cemetery's founding, and how the land was donated to the City, remains unknown.

[4] Mountain Cemetery's burials include William Smith, the only known Revolutionary War veteran buried in the state of California and the oldest proven burial in the cemetery;[4] Mariano and Francisca Vallejo; and local families who have influenced the food and wine industry, including the founder of Sebastiani Vineyards, Samuele Sebastiani.

The style, which includes mortar joints and the use of basalt, reflects the stonework seen in select 19th-century buildings, walls, and bridges in Sonoma.

The Overlook Trail winds past the burial plots and up the hillside into Montini Open Space Preserve.