Sonora Hebrew Cemetery

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Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, Photographer Jan. 19, 1934 MAIN ENTRANCE, YANEY AVENUE (NORTH-WEST) - Grave Stones, Jewish Cemetery, Yaney Avenue, Sonora, HABS CAL,55-SONO,1-1.tif
Sonora Hebrew Cemetery entrance in 1934
Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
Details
Establishedc. 1851
Closed1977
Location
CountryUnited States
Coordinates 37°59′03″N120°23′11″W / 37.98421°N 120.38651°W / 37.98421; -120.38651
TypeJewish
No. of graves70
Find a Grave Sonora Hebrew Cemetery
The Political Graveyard Sonora Hebrew Cemetery

The Sonora Hebrew Cemetery, also known as Pioneer Jewish Cemetery, is an inactive Jewish cemetery founded in c. 1851, and located in Sonora, California. [1] This was the first Jewish cemetery in the Gold Rush region.

Contents

History

The cemetery was founded by the Hebrew Benevolent Society and is mostly the graves of European-born Jews who emigrated to the Gold Country. The first burial is recorded in 1853 as Hartwig Caro, age 17; however it's possible there were burials starting in 1851. [2]

Local Jewish community leader Mayer Baer (1821–1907), and then his son Julius Baer (1876–1972) maintained the cemetery up until 1972. [2] [3]

As of 2022, there are only 44 visible grave sites. [2] [4] In 1962, the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West was formed to help with education, and restoration for all of the Jewish cemeteries in Gold County. [3] The Mother Lode Jewish Community has an annual clean up day, when they visit the cemetery as a group and maintain the space. [2]

Other 19th-century Jewish cemeteries in Northern California are located at:

See also

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Pioneer Jewish Cemetery may refer to:

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References

  1. Tagger, Mathilde A. (1997). Printed Books on Jewish Cemeteries in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem: An Annotated Bibliography. Israel Genealogical Society.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ricapito, Giuseppe (July 19, 2021). "Sonora Hebrew Cemetery hosts final burial for Holocaust survivor" . The Union Democrat . Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  3. 1 2 3 Greschler, Gabriel (November 25, 2020). "A road trip through Jewish Gold Country". J. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  4. 1 2 Levinson, Robert E. (1994). The Jews in the California Gold Rush. Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks, Judah L. Magnes Museum. ISBN   978-0943376622.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Morris, Susan (1996). A Traveler's Guide to Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries of the California Gold Rush. Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks, Judah L. Magnes Museum. ISBN   978-0-943376-63-9.
  6. Rensch, Hero Eugene; Rensch, Ethel Grace; Hoover, Mildred Brooke (1966). Abeloe, William N. (ed.). Historical Spots in California (3 ed.). Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 487. ISBN   978-0-8047-0079-5.
  7. Friedmann, Jonathan L. (2020-03-23). Jewish Gold Country. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 22–23. ISBN   978-1-4396-6942-6 via Google Books.