El Monte Cemetery
This small cemetery may be the oldest Protestant burial ground in
southern California; its origins date back to the 1850s, when the owner
of Rancho San Francisquito, discovered two graves on his property. The
site had apparently been chosen because the water table in Lexington (the
name of El Monte at that time) was about six feet below the surface.
Dalton left the graves and gave the surrounding property to the community
as a burial site.
Many of the area's pioneering families are buried here - Durfee, Wiggins,
Fawcett, Cleminson, and Ellis.
El Monte Cemetery is located at 9236 Valley Boulevard at Mission Road in
Rosemead.