*Images via Find a Grave*
“The historic Downieville Cemetery has been serving this historic Gold Rush community since the 1860s. Like most Gold Rush cemeteries, this pioneer burial ground is a place of repose for those who tell the story of this historic town. In addition to being a hallowed place for those who rest here, this hillside cemetery is a peaceful place with beautiful views of the surrounding hillsides, wonderful wildflowers, and fine examples of both exquisite headstones and ironwork.
The Downieville Cemetery, also known as the Masonic Cemetery, is the town’s fourth and contains many graves relocated from the original cemetery located on the site of the present school. That cemetery, dating back to the late 1840s, was relocated and that site mined. Two other cemeteries in the town’s history have also disappeared, one on the ridge above Jersey Flat today containing a single marked grave, and a Chinese cemetery near the confluence of the Downie River and Pauley Creek. It is debatable how many graves remain at the latter site as it was common practice to ship remains home to Asia following a temporary interment.
Today, the Downieville Cemetery is the final resting place for over six hundred souls and represents a who’s who of Downieville and Sierra County history. A thumbnail demographic of early pioneers show they arrived early, they arrived young, and that Downieville had the pick of the world with the northeast region of the United States and western Europe well represented”
*Info via Sierra Nevada Geo Tourism*