Necropolis
A 3.5 mile bike ride from Munson’s place can get you to Colma, a Bay Area city with 1.5 million underground residents. When property values began to rise in the early 1900s, the City of San Francisco passed a series of ordinances that first prohibited any future cemetery from being built within the city limits, and later forced the eviction of all but two existing cemeteries. When there’s money to be made, never underestimate the ability of your democratically elected officials to find a way. The project wasn’t completed until 1942 when finally every corpse, headstone, coffin, grave marker, crypt and vault had been uprooted, shipped to Colma and re-interred. Usually while visiting Munson I’m up early and looking for something to do until 11:30 a.m. when Munson will climb out of bed to begin preparations for the first race at Santa Anita. One good option is a fifteen minute walk down to the BART station at Balboa Park and traveling two stops to Colma. The city of Colma