Mountain View Cemetery

The Mountain View Cemetery is a large 226acre cemetery in Oakland, Alameda County, California. It was established in 1863 by a group of East Bay pioneers under the California Rural Cemetery Act of 1859. The association they formed still operates the cemetery today. Mountain View was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who also designed New York City's Central Park and much of UC Berkeley and Stanford University.Many of California's important historical figures, drawn by Olmsted's reputation, are buried here, and there are so many grandiose crypts in tribute to the wealthy that one section is known as "Millionaires' Row." Because of this, and its beautiful setting, the cemetery is a tourist draw and docents lead semi-monthly tours.DesignOlmsted's intent was to create a space that would express a harmony between humankind and the natural setting. In the view of 19th century English and American romantics, park-like cemeteries, such as Mountain View, represented the peace of nature, to which humanity's soul returns. Olmsted, drawing upon the concepts of American Transcendentalism, integrated Parisian grand monuments and broad avenues.