WHAT LIES BENEATH?

A dark history of Oceanside buried under asphalt and concrete WORDS: KRISTI HAWTHORNE PHOTOS: ZACH CORDNER

Abandoned cemeteries evoke a range of emotions, from morbid fascination to sadness and disgust. Once given a dignified burial by friends or loved ones, the dead become seemingly forgotten by later generations. Oceanside has five cemeteries, but at one time had six, and at least one private burial spot. What became of them is a fascinating and sometimes disturbing story.

On August 14, 2022, Jim and Jan Frazee brought their trained cadaver dogs Emmy and Roso to two different sites to see if they were able to detect human remains. Cadaver dogs can be trained to detect human remains the moment the body starts to decay and have even been successful in helping archeologists.

On April 22, 1894, Colonel Daniel Hussey Horne died at his home on Second street (now Mission Avenue). Horne was an early pioneer of Topeka, Kansas, and is noted as being one of the founders of Kansas as a free state, opposed to slavery. In 1885, he and his wife Maria relocated to Oceanside, California where he built a large house overlooking the town near the street that bears his name. Horne was the first president of the Bank of Oceanside, as well as first president of the board of trustees (first mayor). He was also an avid supporter of the first pier built in 1888, and it’s largely due to his efforts that it was built. His funeral service was held at the Congregational church (built on land donated by Horne himself), after which the procession of friends and family went to gravesite services “in the private grounds on Horne Street,” according to his lengthy obituary

Colonel Horne's home, pictured here in 1888, once stood near the corner of Mission Avenue and Horne Street.

published in the Oceanside Blade. Just where on the property he was buried is unknown—including anyone else who may have been buried on the Horne property.

In 1960 when the Mission Square Shopping Center was built, the Horne house had been removed earlier and no one was likely aware that a portion of the property was once a burial ground. What became of Colonel Daniel Horne? Through some recent research it was discovered that he was removed from his Oceanside home and reburied on January 24, 1903, in the Pomona Valley Cemetery. Mrs. Horne was buried beside him after her death in 1912.

The Frazee’s cadaver dogs scouted and sniffed the property, but made no discovery or indications that other remains were left behind.

While Colonel Horne is “resting in peace,” it’s not so for dozens of people buried at the Buena Vista Cemetery in South Oceanside. It was established by John Chauncey Hayes, who was also heavily intertwined with the establishment of the City of Oceanside. Hayes hired Edward Dexter (a local engineer) to layout the cemetery for him, which contained 106 burial plots. The earliest map of the cemetery is dated February 1888.

The cemetery was located along Wall Street, which is now called Vista Way. At the time Hayes established the cemetery, there was

Cadaver-sniffing Bloodhound, Emmy, and her owner Jan Frazee search for scents of remains.

no other burial ground for area residents, including Carlsbad, Oceanside, and even Vista. The closest cemetery was least four miles away from downtown Oceanside and were considered inconvenient for coastal residents. Sarah Perry was likely one of the first persons to be buried at Buena Vista. She died of dropsy of the heart, an old-fashioned term for congestive heart failure, at the age of 50 on March 27, 1888. In June of that year, a Mr. P. Morton (a railroad laborer) died and was buried there. Ione Layne and her infant daughter Edith died tragically and were buried there in 1888, as well. Charles C. Wilson, the first Oceanside law officer to die in the line of duty, was buried at the South Oceanside Cemetery. In 1889, John Murray—a nephew of San Luis Rey pioneer Benjamin F. Hubbert—gunned down Wilson on the streets of Oceanside. The City of Oceanside, set to celebrate the 4th of July, instead gathered to mourn the loss of their marshal.

Between 1888 and 1916, it’s believed that no less than 50 people were buried at the Buena Vista Cemetery as evidenced by death certificates, remaining headstones, and published obituaries through 1916. In 1929, Wall Street (aka Vista Way) was being widened, which necessitated the removal of several of the buried. It’s unknown if there were any protests from family members but the cemetery by that time was considered “abandoned.” Eight remains of the dead were disinterred and removed to the I.O.O.F. Cemetery (aka the Oceanview Cemetery) on Hill Street (Coast Highway), two moved to Mt. Hope Cemetery in San Diego, and one moved to the San Marcos Cemetery.

When the Frazee family removed their loved one, Don Blair Frazee, the Oceanside Blade newspaper reported the unusual circumstances regarding his disinterment with the headline: “Body of Early Pioneer in Perfect Condition.” It went on to say: “In a state of almost perfect preservation, apparently from some mineral component of the soil, the body of Don Frazee, early Oceanside pioneer, has been exhumed after having been interred over 30 years, the casket and the clothing showing almost no signs of decay and a flower held in the hand of the dead man even retaining much of its color. The body was taken from its original resting place in the South Oceanside cemetery which is being abandoned in the course of street improvement work in the Tolle tract, on the east side of which the old cemetery was located and was the first burial place after the settlement of Oceanside and Carlsbad.”

With 50 known burials, and eleven known removals in 1929, that would have left a total of 39 remaining at the Buena Vista Cemetery—an important number to consider.

The land on which the cemetery was located was eventually sold to Carlsbad resident Harold Baumgartner. He sold the property to an Oceanside school teacher, Beth Harris French, who acquired the Buena Vista Cemetery, along with another portion of land to “preserve her view” of the lagoon from her home at 2020 Stewart Street.

The cemetery had been neglected for several decades. It was not associated with any church or organization. Thus, there was no “perpetual care.” There was no official burial list or caretaker. Over the years, headstones had been likely stolen, wooden crosses removed, and memories faded as to who was buried there. The cemetery became an overgrown field with a handful of toppled headstones.

Despite her reported concern, French asked the city to rezone her property and then sold it to a developer, who then petitioned the City of Oceanside to rezone the property for commercial use in 1964.

“Her discovery was kept secret and she was quietly buried down the slope of the lagoon. The construction crew felt that re-interment in the slope was a more decent and dignified burial”

An attorney for the developer argued that the number of dead remaining was just nine. When asked by officials what would happen if there were more than eleven remaining, he replied that if there were as many as 40 or people buried there, the project would be abandoned. Ultimately, the decision was made to allow development of the property and to disinter the bodies—the cost of which was borne by the developer.

When excavation began on January 24, 1970, seventeen remains were discovered, not eleven as claimed. It’s well within reason to assume that as many as 39 sets of remains were still buried at the cemetery before the project began. If seventeen sets of remains were removed at the developer’s cost—that may have left 22 behind (or more).

Grading began on the property to ready it for development for a restaurant, The Hungry Hunter, and a gas station. Shortly after work began, remains were discovered that had been left behind. Manny Mancillas—who worked for North County Soils Testing Laboratory in Escondido in 1969— made the gruesome discovery.

After a front loader hit remains of one or two coffins, Mancillas said in an interview that the city

India Maxon Goetz's remains were moved to Oceanview Cemetery.

was called and an employee from the Engineering Department came out with a burlap bag and took the bones. The crew was told to continue their work, but once again another set of remains was discovered. One unforgettable discovery was that of a fully intact coffin. Mancillas vividly recounted that casket’s lead glass top revealed a body of a woman with red hair in almost perfect condition. He said that she was dressed a black dress with a high collar and buttoned shoes. This resembles the disinterment

Jim Frazee and and his dog Roso search the embankment of the Hunter parking lot. of Don Frazee in 1929, who was found “preserved.”

Work stopped after the discovery of the woman and the crew were unnerved. The men were afraid she would be taken away in a burlap bag and not given a proper burial, so they made the decision to use the front loader to rebury her. Her discovery was kept secret and she was quietly buried down the slope of the lagoon. The construction crew felt that re-interment in the slope was a more decent and dignified burial.

Mancillas said that at least six bodies were found during the time he was on site. Bill Hitt, who worked for K. L. Redfern out of Orange County, did the excavating for the gas station, and his memories are similar to that of Mancillas, although Hitt felt more than six remains were found after the official removal; he remembered as many as twelve.

Depending upon which numbers are used, that would still leave either ten or sixteen possible remains left at the cemetery. Then, in October of 1991, Texaco was on site of the former service station (now a bike shop) doing soils testing and they discovered an additional five sets of remains. The company paid to have them removed to Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside.

Although cadaver dogs Emmy and Roso were unable to detect any remains at the Buena Vista Cemetery site, there are still very likely people buried there today, under asphalt and concrete, perhaps five or as many as eleven, including the red-haired lady in the glass-topped coffin on the slope.