Located on the corner of Bledsoe Street and Foothill Blvd in Sylmar, CA you will find Pioneer Memorial Cemetery (formally Morningside). With burials dating back before 1880, this was the cemetery where Plan 9 From Outer Space was filmed.
The second oldest cemetery in the San Fernando Valley, Pioneer Memorial was purchased in 1925 by a mortician named, Will G. Noble. After Noble's death in 1939, the cemetery fell into disrepair and was declared abandoned in 1958. Noble's widow, Nellie, eventually relinquished ownership of Pioneer Memorial to the Native Daughters of the Golden West so that Pioneer Memorial could be preserved. Thanks to vandals, many of the headstones (which were the only records of burial) were stolen. Luckily, a few of the stolen headstones have been returned. The only question now is where to place them. In March 2012, the community was called to action in an attempt to name the nameless. So far, only 13 graves are marked. On the San Fernando Valley Historical Society's website, a short roster of names of those interred at Pioneer is available (http://www.sfvhs.com/graves.htm). Most believe many of the burials were children who perished in the 1918 influenza epidemic and those killed in the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster.
To locate Pioneer Memorial Cemetery go to 14451 Bledsoe Street Sylmar, CA 91342. Due to the way many in the community have mistreated the cemetery, it is now only accessible every third Saturday of the month. Happy hunting!
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