The cemetery was platted in 1856 by several eminent citizens, including Judge Daniel McLain, who had previously owned the land.

[2]: 360  Colonel Samuel N. Yeoman, a former forty-niner and Civil War veteran, established the cemetery; he participated in planning its layout and served as its first president.

Some of the leading components of its design are the winding driveways, artificial lakes, rare shrubs and trees, and a fountain that was placed in 1892.

[2]: 360 In 1903, local residents began planning a streetcar line for the city, with the cemetery to be the terminus; although rails and other resources were purchased, the concept was ultimately abandoned without anything having been built.

[2]: 358  As the twentieth century passed, the cemetery fell into disarray; money was saved by filling in a lake, and the fountain and chapel deteriorated.