El Campo Santo: The San Diego Cemetery They Paved a Road Over

El Campo Santo — Spanish for 'the holy field' — is the second-oldest cemetery in San Diego, opened in 1849 to bury the city's growing Catholic Mexican-American population. Over 477 people were laid to rest here over the next 30 years, including soldiers, settlers, sheriffs, and at least one notorious bandit. Today the cemetery is roughly half its original size — because the rest of it is buried under San Diego Avenue.

The 1889 streetcar line

In 1889, the city of San Diego decided to extend a horse-drawn streetcar line down San Diego Avenue from Old Town to the new downtown. The route ran straight through the eastern third of El Campo Santo. Rather than relocate the graves, the city simply graded over them. Roughly 18 graves are confirmed under the road today; historians estimate the actual number could be twice that. The Catholic Diocese was reportedly never formally consulted.

The brass discs

In the 1990s, after a series of bizarre car incidents on that block, the SOHO preservation society installed small brass discs in the sidewalk and asphalt above each documented grave site. They're labeled simply 'Grave Site' and the deceased's name when known. There are 18 of them. Most tourists walk over them without noticing.

The car-trouble pattern

Tow truck drivers who service Old Town have informally documented something locals call 'the El Campo dead-battery zone.' Cars parked along the brass-disc stretch of San Diego Avenue stall, fail to start, or have electrical glitches at a rate noticeably higher than parking spots one block in either direction. A San Diego Reader investigation in 2014 looked at AAA call data for the block and found the rate was 4x the surrounding area. Make of it what you will.

Yankee Jim and the famous residents

Buried in El Campo Santo proper (not under the road): James 'Yankee Jim' Robinson, hanged on the Whaley House lot in 1852.

Antonio Garra, Cupeño leader executed by firing squad in 1852 for leading a tax revolt against American settlers.

The Cota and Pico families — early Californio dynasties whose descendants still live in San Diego County.

How to visit

El Campo Santo is open dawn to dusk, free, with a small interpretive sign at the Conde Street entrance. Walking it takes 15 minutes. Combine with the Whaley House (one block away), the Cosmopolitan Hotel, and a stop at Old Town Mexican Café. Locals walk the brass discs at twilight — the angle of the sun makes them visible against the asphalt — and most ghost-tour operators in San Diego include this stop.

Respect note

This is still a consecrated Catholic cemetery, and some descendants of those buried here still live in Old Town. Don't sit, lie, or picnic on the graves. Don't move stones or leave non-natural items. Take photos, walk slowly, and leave it the way you found it.