Centerville Pioneer Cemetery
At the corner of Post Street and Bonde Way in Fremont, behind a low fence, headstones mark the graves of people who arrived in California when the Santa Clara Valley was still a farming frontier. The Centerville Pioneer Cemetery -- also known as the Centerville Presbyterian Cemetery or Alameda Presbyterian Cemetery -- is one of the oldest burial grounds in the East Bay, a quiet plot of land that has been surrounded by suburban development but remains stubbornly undeveloped itself.
Pioneer Graves
The cemetery dates to the 19th century, when Centerville was a small agricultural community that would eventually be absorbed into the city of Fremont. The headstones record the names of families who farmed the flatlands between the East Bay hills and the bay shore, people whose lives predated the railroads, the orchards, and certainly the technology industry. Some markers have weathered to illegibility; others remain sharp enough to read names and dates that connect visitors to a California most would not recognize.
A Pause in Time
Small pioneer cemeteries like Centerville exist across California, but they are increasingly rare in urbanized areas where the land they occupy has become enormously valuable. The cemetery's survival in Fremont -- a city defined by tech offices, housing developments, and commuter traffic -- makes it an accidental monument to the idea that some ground is too meaningful to build on.
From the Air
Centerville Pioneer Cemetery is at 37.560°N, 122.008°W at Post Street and Bonde Way in Fremont. The small cemetery plot is not visible from altitude. Nearest airports: Hayward Executive (KHWD) 7 nm north, Palo Alto (KPAO) 8 nm south.