Headstone of

Civil War Union Veteran

William H.H. Moxley,

5th Iowa Infantry

History

Lancaster Cemetery began in the early to mid-1890s in the unincorporated northern area  of Los Angeles County, California.  Burials took place on the property without the permission of the property owner, Benjamin Carter.

Lancaster Cemetery was “officially” founded in 1902 when Carter donated the land to Los Angeles County in trust for the citizens of Lancaster (Lancaster did not become a city until 1977).  The original land was purchased by Carter for $5 per acre.  The deal was made through Los Angeles’ first female real estate operator and developer, Alice J. Rutledge.  She stipulated 10 acres of Carter’s land be donated for a much needed cemetery.  In the end, County officials decided five acres would do.

Previous to the official opening, at least nine people were buried on or near the site of the current cemetery, between 1892 –1901.

Copyright 2007 Lancaster Cemetery District

While walking through the beautiful, well-manicured grounds of the Cemetery you feel surrounded by history.  Many of the founding families of Antelope Valley are interred here.

 

A sample of the names you will see inscribed on the headstones include Baumann, Beery, Bones, Carter, Cushman, Dahl, Duhart, Duntley, Evert, Firsick, Forsyth, Frakes, Gibbons, Godde, Johnson, Kelley, Lane, Martin, Mumaw, Price, Primmer, Radloff, Reynolds, Scates, Semerenko, Specht, Stratman, Washburn, Whidden and Wolff.

 

At Lancaster Cemetery, the veterans of all wars and conflicts will never be forgotten.  From the Confederate veteran, Morgan Price and Union veterans John D. Hoffman, Solomon Lapham, William H.H. Moxley, and James Madison West,  through to the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II, Korea, Vietnam and to the present day conflicts, our brave veterans will always be remembered and honored.