My grandfather, Noble C. Metzger, is buried there. His headstone is shown in the video for a moment. He was born in Indiana in 1884. He and my grandmother tried to prove up some of last homestead land ever available in the United States; that was in Montana in 1906. After that, he built ships in Puget Sound, picked crops in the San Joaquin Valley, fished in the Sacramento River Delta, and finally moved to San Pedro, California in 1928 where he became an ocean fisherman. He died in 1939 in the only tropical storm to hit landfall on the West Coast in the 20th Century. The sophisticated weather prediction methods we have now weren't available then, and the storm took everyone by surprise. He was out on his fishing boat, the Nina, when the winds and rain hit. A nearby fishing charter tried to help, but my grandfather and his crewman perished. His body washed up on shore at Pt. Mugu a few days later. The wallet that he was in his pocket at the time ended up in my mother's hands, and she passed it on to me.
@@exgodzillamaster -- No, I'm sorry, I don't. When I was there in 2018, it was overgrown. When I returned in 2019, it had been cleaned up. I have no idea who gets the credit for that. Wish I did.
I lived up the street from here in the early 80's and worked across the street from this cemetery at the hinshaws dept store warehouse. I think during the 1970's there was a Kmart directly across the street from the church which was next to the graveyard and next to that was some kind of abandoned mill. It's remains still stood there into the 1980's. Nobody knew what it was used for but it was thought to have belonged to the dunkers. I knew people from south whittier and S.F.S who would go in there and take old ancient red bricks home with them. The uptown whittier history museum has some books for sale with with photos of the dunkers and their history in that part of whittier\ santa fe springs. Another tremendously awesome video here. I thank you very much for making this one from my home town.
Thank you for sharing your experiences of living and working near by Olive Grove. Since posting this video, I have heard from several people, like yourself, who have memories of it. I wouldn't mind revisiting this place sometime in the future and make a follow up video. Thanks again! :)
Hello, I lived in Santa Fe Springs for about ten years. I drove past this cemetery often and always wondered what its history was. Thank you for shedding some light on the history of this cemetery. I really enjoyed it!
My mother and I came across this cemetery back in either the late 90's or early 2000's (we both grew up in the neighboring town of Norwalk) and were in the area visiting family. At that time, there was still a small abandoned church and play area on the site. Then years later we went back to see all of that was gone, replaced by industrial buildings. But the cemetery remained. It has been in various states of upkeep since. I'm glad that this area has been preserved even with everything that has changed around it. 😊
I've lived in Whittier for over 40 years and had no idea it was there. Thanks! First time seeing your channel. The gothic cemetery in Long Beach is really cool. My cousin got married there, on Halloween at midnight.
I'm very glad you found the channel. I believe I know the cemetery in Long Beach you're talking about and I plan to visit it soon. Thank you for watching :)
Grew up in the area and live near the cemetery. Was a pretty and strangely eerie place when the church sanctuary still stood, and the cemetery was part of the grounds. Large shade trees dotted the property as well. Sadly, the church was bulldozed overnight by the new property owners before (allegedly) the full site could be declared historic, and they could build their ugly industrial building. They couldn't, however, get rid the cemetery so easy.
Another fine video and narrative of little-known history. I have a sense that you would enjoy and value several books entitled Empire of the Summer Moon and Blood and Thunder, both of which are powerfully compelling and explore different aspects of the settlement of the American West: they include many historical figures and powerful incidents whose histories have slipped thorough the cracks for many but landmarks can still be found if one knows where to look.
My Grandmothers great grandparents were some of the 1st settlers in the 1890's. My grandfather grew up there and was a member of the New River Church.His father was a mortician and a partner in what was then known as the Christianson and Moore Funeral Home in West Covina, now known as Custer-Christianson. I know quite a few people who used to live there until the late 1960's. They mostly relocated to the central valley near Modesto.
Hello, it's so great to hear from a descendant; thank you for reaching out and sharing your family's story. I had read that the church relocated, but I couldn't find anything out about them after the move.
I think the ladies wear a small crept type material hat of some sort, and I work in retail in the Sacramento area and we occasionally see people from Modesto area shopping from this group. They are still in the Modesto area
While driving a date home from a movie. I decided to take the back streets to save time. Mid conversation we are silenced by what was in the road. An indo blue ball of light the size of a grapefruit. It was crossing the street directly in front of this cemetery. It moved from right to left, about 4 feet off the ground, with a small bounce that looked like a walking gate. But before my truck would have drove right into the orb, it darted like a smacked tennis ball into the middle of all the headstones and vanished. She was super freaked out as I circled the truck around to take another look. But all was dark and quiet. This was 2017 and I still have a hard time passing by at night.
Well, your comment gave me chills. I was in Fullerton walking my dog one night at the end of a cul-de-sac by the golf course and suddenly I noticed that same type of grapefruit size blue ball of light bouncing around on the blacktop. I first thought is was some sort of electrical sparking from underground, but no. My dog totally freaked out and was trying to run away, barking, hyper alert. This blue light also darted like a smacked tennis ball but into the nearby home, and vanished. My little chihuahua tried to chase it at one point, scared as he was. I've told a few people about this and they look at me like I'm nuts, so I stopped telling anyone. You described it so perfectly, thank you.
I believe (but I could be wrong) that it is a California landmark. But the impression I got when I was there was that it is pretty much on its own. Someone does go there and keep the weeds under control, and puts out pinwheels and flowers, which is nice.
Does anyone know if volunteers are still looking after this cemetery? I went there about a week ago and there are no flowers or little windmills anymore…wanted to help out if possible and really restore this historic cemetery
It was my understanding that one of the local churches did monthly clean ups of the cemetery. But I heard that some time ago, and I'm not sure what the situation is like at the moment.
You can usually date headstones by material type. As far as stone goes first they started with limestone. easy to carve- too easy, weathers away within a hundred years. They came a brief period of marble, which stained easily and also weathered too soon. Lastly now we use Granite. But Black granite only started appearing in the 1970's. And now, it has become overused. an eyesore whenever I see it. And to top that all off. It's imported from China now.
Many German immigrants came to the USA at different periods of time. Most of them had their own communities, they stayed together, because most did not speak English, or knew little of this country. They felt safe with their own people, and had their own religious beliefs. This happened with different nationalities who came. Mine came very early in time 1st New York, and much later to Texas. We truly have a melting pot of people in the USA, and I descend from many nationalities now.
I drove by here one day when I was lost, saw it and was like “What the-?!” and always wondered what the story was with this seemingly random cemetery in the middle of a business park.
Once I had visited this place and in front of one of the stones there was two dead roosters with their heads cut off. I ran and found out it was Santeria.
Hey MATT ~ Speaking of: WHITTIER(California) & Cemeteries/Graveyards ~~~ ive got 2(actually 3)WORDS FOR YA!!! Rose Hill Cemetery!!!! anything??.? from You - huh????
Hey Matt , ya wanna know something kinda Funny & Too~Cool @ the very same-time?! Like Right-after i mentioned about doing "Rose Hill" in Whittier , By about 2 weeks ~ Mr. Arthur Dark of: "HOLLYWOOD GRAVEYARDS" did Rose Hill in: Whittier , WOW , huh?!??? YEAH - That's exactly what i thought TOO!!!! LOL . ANYHOO ~ PLEASE KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK!!! :)
Whittier had two older smaller cemeteries in uptown whittier which were across the street from each other. The city's first settlers were buried there but were removed in the late 70s or early 80s. Remaining headstones were placed in the back of the uptown whittier museum for a time. A video on the old Quakers of whittier would be more interesting then rose hills because of the history and those original settlers homes still stand in uptown whittier.
Nice video. But I think out of respect you should not use the term “dunkers” quite so many times as it sounds derogatory. There are many faiths that believe in and practice full immersion baptism. May all of the souls of these buried here Rest In Peace, with Jesus and His Father in Heaven. 🙏🏻
Just as a counter point: While I can appreciate that some, possibly many folk may find the term derogatory I have family buried here, German Baptists, whose descendants were among those who moved Modesto and beyond. German Baptists do not require their children to follow the faith, though some of those who did not often joined churches that practiced full immersion baptism. They were and are very keen on genealogy and keep very good records. I grew up hearing, and to this day stilll hear, those same relatives freely use the term "dunkards" (with the second "d"), non-pejoratively about themselves and in discussions of family history as one might say "the Ohio branch of the family." Since not all those who are aligned with churches that practices full-immersion are German Baptist, and many branches of the family do not practice full-immersion, it was/is a shorthand way of grouping people (again in a non-pejorative way). For example, there is a piece of family history about two brothers in the late 1700s or early 1800s that several generations of family members, both amongst the GB contingent and the non-GB, have been diligently researching. They don't know if the brothers were GB but they do know they were "dunkards" and so that term is used. Since my GB relatives have been using this term for more than 60 years, and I have a LOT of relatives, I believe that they are not the only ones to use this term in this manner.
@@anneanderson3853 I appreciate your explanation and possible error in pronunciation..However the poster’s narration does not include the “d” at the end of his “dunker” word. It seems he is reading from scripted text? So most likely in his research someone explained to him about the history and those people buried here. That person’s explanation to him may have included that descriptive term. So then he repeated what they had said verbatim.. not realizing it may have sounded derogatory. There are some faiths that only sprinkle those being baptized..no matter how it is done if you believe it, you receive it. < Respectfully and with blessings during the tough times we are living in, Patty
My grandfather, Noble C. Metzger, is buried there. His headstone is shown in the video for a moment. He was born in Indiana in 1884. He and my grandmother tried to prove up some of last homestead land ever available in the United States; that was in Montana in 1906. After that, he built ships in Puget Sound, picked crops in the San Joaquin Valley, fished in the Sacramento River Delta, and finally moved to San Pedro, California in 1928 where he became an ocean fisherman. He died in 1939 in the only tropical storm to hit landfall on the West Coast in the 20th Century. The sophisticated weather prediction methods we have now weren't available then, and the storm took everyone by surprise. He was out on his fishing boat, the Nina, when the winds and rain hit. A nearby fishing charter tried to help, but my grandfather and his crewman perished. His body washed up on shore at Pt. Mugu a few days later. The wallet that he was in his pocket at the time ended up in my mother's hands, and she passed it on to me.
Thank you so much for sharing your grandfather's fascinating story.
I have ancestors buried there too. And I have Metzger's connected to my family who were German Baptist Brethren.
Laurie, do you happen to know who is taking care of this cemetery ? I’m having a difficult time finding the owners or any volunteers
@@exgodzillamaster -- No, I'm sorry, I don't. When I was there in 2018, it was overgrown. When I returned in 2019, it had been cleaned up. I have no idea who gets the credit for that. Wish I did.
@@lindawells5427 Metzger means butcher in German, right?
Aaron Miller, my great grandfather, is also there. His family farm is what is now Pioneer High School, on Millergrove Drive, his namesake.
I lived up the street from here in the early 80's and worked across the street from this cemetery at the hinshaws dept store warehouse. I think during the 1970's there was a Kmart directly across the street from the church which was next to the graveyard and next to that was some kind of abandoned mill. It's remains still stood there into the 1980's. Nobody knew what it was used for but it was thought to have belonged to the dunkers. I knew people from south whittier and S.F.S who would go in there and take old ancient red bricks home with them. The uptown whittier history museum has some books for sale with with photos of the dunkers and their history in that part of whittier\ santa fe springs. Another tremendously awesome video here. I thank you very much for making this one from my home town.
Thank you for sharing your experiences of living and working near by Olive Grove. Since posting this video, I have heard from several people, like yourself, who have memories of it. I wouldn't mind revisiting this place sometime in the future and make a follow up video. Thanks again! :)
Hello, I lived in Santa Fe Springs for about ten years. I drove past this cemetery often and always wondered what its history was. Thank you for shedding some light on the history of this cemetery. I really enjoyed it!
My mother and I came across this cemetery back in either the late 90's or early 2000's (we both grew up in the neighboring town of Norwalk) and were in the area visiting family. At that time, there was still a small abandoned church and play area on the site. Then years later we went back to see all of that was gone, replaced by industrial buildings. But the cemetery remained. It has been in various states of upkeep since. I'm glad that this area has been preserved even with everything that has changed around it. 😊
I've lived in Whittier for over 40 years and had no idea it was there. Thanks! First time seeing your channel. The gothic cemetery in Long Beach is really cool. My cousin got married there, on Halloween at midnight.
I'm very glad you found the channel. I believe I know the cemetery in Long Beach you're talking about and I plan to visit it soon. Thank you for watching :)
My great grandparents are buried there (Cassie and Charles Henslick). Thank you for explaining this history and sharing the video. ❤️❤️❤️
Grew up in the area and live near the cemetery. Was a pretty and strangely eerie place when the church sanctuary still stood, and the cemetery was part of the grounds. Large shade trees dotted the property as well. Sadly, the church was bulldozed overnight by the new property owners before (allegedly) the full site could be declared historic, and they could build their ugly industrial building. They couldn't, however, get rid the cemetery so easy.
It is good to see that is preserved.Tony
Another fine video and narrative of little-known history. I have a sense that you would enjoy and value several books entitled Empire of the Summer Moon and Blood and Thunder, both of which are powerfully compelling and explore different aspects of the settlement of the American West: they include many historical figures and powerful incidents whose histories have slipped thorough the cracks for many but landmarks can still be found if one knows where to look.
Thanks so much for the tips on the books, I will definitely pick them up. :)
My Grandmothers great grandparents were some of the 1st settlers in the 1890's. My grandfather grew up there and was a member of the New River Church.His father was a mortician and a partner in what was then known as the Christianson and Moore Funeral Home in West Covina, now known as Custer-Christianson. I know quite a few people who used to live there until the late 1960's. They mostly relocated to the central valley near Modesto.
Hello, it's so great to hear from a descendant; thank you for reaching out and sharing your family's story. I had read that the church relocated, but I couldn't find anything out about them after the move.
There was a very large group of German Baptist in Modesto, Ca. in the 70's and 80's, not sure about now.
I think the ladies wear a small crept type material hat of some sort, and I work in retail in the Sacramento area and we occasionally see people from Modesto area shopping from this group. They are still in the Modesto area
Did the woman wear those mesh caps?
@@GaryHardin It's still there!
While driving a date home from a movie. I decided to take the back streets to save time. Mid conversation we are silenced by what was in the road. An indo blue ball of light the size of a grapefruit. It was crossing the street directly in front of this cemetery. It moved from right to left, about 4 feet off the ground, with a small bounce that looked like a walking gate. But before my truck would have drove right into the orb, it darted like a smacked tennis ball into the middle of all the headstones and vanished.
She was super freaked out as I circled the truck around to take another look. But all was dark and quiet. This was 2017 and I still have a hard time passing by at night.
Well, your comment gave me chills. I was in Fullerton walking my dog one night at the end of a cul-de-sac by the golf course and suddenly I noticed that same type of grapefruit size blue ball of light bouncing around on the blacktop. I first thought is was some sort of electrical sparking from underground, but no. My dog totally freaked out and was trying to run away, barking, hyper alert. This blue light also darted like a smacked tennis ball but into the nearby home, and vanished. My little chihuahua tried to chase it at one point, scared as he was. I've told a few people about this and they look at me like I'm nuts, so I stopped telling anyone. You described it so perfectly, thank you.
It's sad how this place is not made into a historical site.
I believe (but I could be wrong) that it is a California landmark. But the impression I got when I was there was that it is pretty much on its own. Someone does go there and keep the weeds under control, and puts out pinwheels and flowers, which is nice.
Does anyone know if volunteers are still looking after this cemetery? I went there about a week ago and there are no flowers or little windmills anymore…wanted to help out if possible and really restore this historic cemetery
It was my understanding that one of the local churches did monthly clean ups of the cemetery. But I heard that some time ago, and I'm not sure what the situation is like at the moment.
You can usually date headstones by material type. As far as stone goes first they started with limestone. easy to carve- too easy, weathers away within a hundred years. They came a brief period of marble, which stained easily and also weathered too soon. Lastly now we use Granite. But Black granite only started appearing in the 1970's. And now, it has become overused. an eyesore whenever I see it. And to top that all off. It's imported from China now.
I do agree Black granite is a eyesore,On the roof of the Whittier Museum they have the headstones from Dead mans park {Founders Memorial Park}
Many German immigrants came to the USA at different periods of time. Most of them had their own communities, they stayed together, because most did not speak English, or knew little of this country. They felt safe with their own people, and had their own religious beliefs. This happened with different nationalities who came. Mine came very early in time 1st New York, and much later to Texas. We truly have a melting pot of people in the USA, and I descend from many nationalities now.
I drove by here one day when I was lost, saw it and was like “What the-?!” and always wondered what the story was with this seemingly random cemetery in the middle of a business park.
well done :) ty
Cool video. Have you ever gone to Holy Cross cemetery in Anaheim, CA?.
I REMEMBER THAT OLD WHITE LITTLE CHURCH BEFORE IT GOT TORN DOWN. I EVEN WENT IN IT AND IT WAS HAUNTED
Once I had visited this place and in front of one of the stones there was two dead roosters with their heads cut off. I ran and found out it was Santeria.
The nama ' LOVINA" seems similar with LOVINA BEACH BALI.
:)
I always thought it was a pet cemetery...
@liuetenant dan yes it is. Well it was called south Whittier middle school when I went to school there. Now the school has a different name...
Hey MATT ~ Speaking of: WHITTIER(California) & Cemeteries/Graveyards ~~~ ive got 2(actually 3)WORDS FOR YA!!! Rose Hill Cemetery!!!! anything??.? from You - huh????
I will have to look into it. Thank you for the suggestion :)
Hey Matt , ya wanna know something kinda Funny & Too~Cool @ the very same-time?! Like Right-after i mentioned about doing "Rose Hill" in Whittier , By about 2 weeks ~ Mr. Arthur Dark of: "HOLLYWOOD GRAVEYARDS" did Rose Hill in: Whittier , WOW , huh?!??? YEAH - That's exactly what i thought TOO!!!! LOL . ANYHOO ~ PLEASE KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK!!! :)
Whittier had two older smaller cemeteries in uptown whittier which were across the street from each other. The city's first settlers were buried there but were removed in the late 70s or early 80s. Remaining headstones were placed in the back of the uptown whittier museum for a time. A video on the old Quakers of whittier would be more interesting then rose hills because of the history and those original settlers homes still stand in uptown whittier.
I live in Compton and am in love with your channel! It’s like it was made especially for me 😊 Thank you soooo much!
Nice video. But I think out of respect you should not use the term “dunkers” quite so many times as it sounds derogatory. There are many faiths that believe in and practice full immersion baptism.
May all of the souls of these buried here Rest In Peace, with Jesus and His Father in Heaven. 🙏🏻
I agree that it is insulting to call us dunkers. My family has been baptized. I enjoy all the Grave Explorations just disappointed at this.
Just as a counter point: While I can appreciate that some, possibly many folk may find the term derogatory I have family buried here, German Baptists, whose descendants were among those who moved Modesto and beyond. German Baptists do not require their children to follow the faith, though some of those who did not often joined churches that practiced full immersion baptism. They were and are very keen on genealogy and keep very good records. I grew up hearing, and to this day stilll hear, those same relatives freely use the term "dunkards" (with the second "d"), non-pejoratively about themselves and in discussions of family history as one might say "the Ohio branch of the family." Since not all those who are aligned with churches that practices full-immersion are German Baptist, and many branches of the family do not practice full-immersion, it was/is a shorthand way of grouping people (again in a non-pejorative way). For example, there is a piece of family history about two brothers in the late 1700s or early 1800s that several generations of family members, both amongst the GB contingent and the non-GB, have been diligently researching. They don't know if the brothers were GB but they do know they were "dunkards" and so that term is used. Since my GB relatives have been using this term for more than 60 years, and I have a LOT of relatives, I believe that they are not the only ones to use this term in this manner.
@@anneanderson3853 I appreciate your explanation and possible error in pronunciation..However the poster’s narration does not include the “d” at the end of his “dunker” word. It seems he is reading from scripted text? So most likely in his research someone explained to him about the history and those people buried here. That person’s explanation to him may have included that descriptive term. So then he repeated what they had said verbatim.. not realizing it may have sounded derogatory.
There are some faiths that only sprinkle those being baptized..no matter how it is done if you believe it, you receive it. <
Respectfully and with blessings during the tough times we are living in,
Patty
More like the Duggars.