- Colma, California
-
For the Buckethead album of the same name, see Colma (album).
Town of Colma — Town — Motto: "It's great to be alive in Colma" Location in San Mateo County and the state of California
Coordinates: 37°40′44″N 122°27′20″W / 37.67889°N 122.45556°WCoordinates: 37°40′44″N 122°27′20″W / 37.67889°N 122.45556°W Country 
United StatesState 
CaliforniaCounty San Mateo Incorporated (as Lawndale) August 5, 1924 (name change to Colma) November 17, 1941 Government - Mayor Helen Fisicaro - Interim City Manager Laura Allen Area[1] - Total 1.909 sq mi (4.945 km2) - Land 1.909 sq mi (4.945 km2) - Water 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% Elevation 121 ft (37 m) Population (2010) - Total 1,792 - Density 938.7/sq mi (362.4/km2) United States Census Bureau Time zone PST (UTC-8) - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7) ZIP code 94014 Area code(s) 650 FIPS code 06-14736 GNIS feature ID 1658303 Website http://www.colma.ca.gov Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,792 at the 2010 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924.[2]
With most of Colma's land dedicated to cemeteries, the population of the dead outnumber the living by over a thousand to one. This has led to it being called, "the city of the silent," and also has given rise to a humorous motto, now recorded on the city's website: "It's great to be alive in Colma."[2]
Contents
History
The community of Colma was formed in the 1800s as a collection of homes and small businesses along El Camino Real and the adjacent railroad line. Several churches, including Holy Angels Catholic Church, were founded in these early years. The community founded its own fire district, which serves the unincorporated area of Colma north of the town limits as well as the area that became a town in 1924.
Colma became the location of a large number of cemeteries when San Francisco, the town's powerful neighbor to the north, passed an ordinance in 1900 outlawing the construction of any more cemeteries in the city (mainly because of increased property values making the cost of using land for cemeteries prohibitive), and then passed another ordinance in 1912 evicting all existing cemeteries from city limits. A similar scenario prevails in New York City's borough of Manhattan, where there are only two active cemeteries, both in the recently gentrified Lower Eastside, with marble-lined, underground vaults that pass Department of Health codes.[3] The relocation of cemeteries from San Francisco to Colma is the subject of A Second Final Rest: The History of San Francisco's Lost Cemeteries, (2005) a documentary by Trina Lopez.
The Town of Lawndale was incorporated in 1924 primarily at the behest of the cemetery owners with the cooperation of the handful of residents who lived closest to the cemeteries. The residential and business area immediately to the north continued to be known as Colma. Because another city in Los Angeles County with the name Lawndale already existed, the post office retained the Colma designation, and the town changed its name back to Colma in 1941.
Originally, the residents of the town were primarily employed in occupations related to the many cemeteries in the town. Since the 1980s, Colma has become more diversified, with a variety of retail businesses and automobile dealerships, which have brought more sales tax revenue to the town government.[2]
Notable interments
Many, if not most of the well known people who died in San Francisco since the first cemeteries opened here have been buried in Colma, with an additional large number of such burials in Oakland's Mountain View Cemetery.
Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst is buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, as are business magnate William Henry Crocker; San Francisco Chronicle founder Charles De Young, horticulturist John McLaren, and jazz musician and bandleader Turk Murphy.
Wyatt Earp is buried at the Hills of Eternity, in Colma, next to his wife, Josephine Marcus.[2]
Joe DiMaggio, the baseball player is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery;[2] as are coffee heiress and Manson murder victim Abigail Folger; the San Francisco brother-team of pulp writers, Patrick and Terence Casey; San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto; 32nd governor of California Pat Brown; Bank of America founder A.P. Giannini; Senator James D. Phelan; and jazz musician Vince Guaraldi.
Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma is the final resting place of Emperor Norton and California cattle rancher, Henry Miller.
Geography and geology
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.9 sq mi (4.9 km2), all of it land. The town's 17 cemeteries comprise approximately 73% of the town's land area.
Colma is situated on the San Francisco Peninsula on the eastern foothills of the northwest trending Santa Cruz Mountain Range. The foothills and eastern flanks of the range are composed largely of poorly consolidated Pliocene-Quaternary freshwater and shallow marine sediments that include the Colma and Merced Formations, recent slope wash, ravine fill, colluvium, and alluvium. These surficial deposits unconformably overlay the much older Jurassic to Cretaceous-aged Franciscan Assemblage. An old landfill about 135 deep existed at the site developed by the 260,000 sq ft (24,000 m2) mixed use Metro Center.[4]
Colma Creek flows through the city as it makes its way from San Bruno Mountain to San Francisco Bay.
Transportation
Colma Station, located just north of Colma in an unincorporated area bordering Daly City, serves the city as part of the BART system. The station is served by the Dublin/Pleasanton - SFO/Millbrae Line.[5] The next station to the south on this line is South San Francisco Station, located 0.1 miles (0.16 km) from Colma's southern city limits and Holy Cross Cemetery.
SamTrans provides bus service to the city.
Planning and environmental factors
When the Metro Center was developed, the Environmental Impact Report required a methane gas collection system to be constructed in order to collect off-gassing from the prior municipal solid waste disposal site at that location.
Demographics
2010
The 2010 United States Census[6] reported that Colma had a population of 1,792. The population density was 938.6 people per square mile (362.4/km²). The racial makeup of Colma was 620 (34.6%) White, 59 (3.3%) African American, 7 (0.4%) Native American, 619 (34.5%) Asian, 9 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 366 (20.4%) from other races, and 112 (6.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 708 persons (39.5%).
The Census reported that 1,763 people (98.4% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 29 (1.6%) were institutionalized.
There were 564 households, out of which 217 (38.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 271 (48.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 110 (19.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 42 (7.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 44 (7.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 8 (1.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 91 households (16.1%) were made up of individuals and 31 (5.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.13. There were 423 families (75.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.45.
The population was spread out with 390 people (21.8%) under the age of 18, 178 people (9.9%) aged 18 to 24, 532 people (29.7%) aged 25 to 44, 488 people (27.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 204 people (11.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.4 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males.
There were 586 housing units at an average density of 306.9 per square mile (118.5/km²), of which 224 (39.7%) were owner-occupied, and 340 (60.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.3%. 738 people (41.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,025 people (57.2%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
Informally, as of December 2006, Colma had "1,500 aboveground residents ... and 1.5 million underground".[2] Formally, as of the census[7] of 2000, there were 1,191 people, 329 households, and 245 families residing in the town. The population density was 624.6 people per square mile (240.8/km2). There were 342 housing units at an average density of 179.4 per square mile (69.1/km2).
There were 329 households out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 17.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.47 and the average family size was 3.92.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was US$58,750, and the median income for a family was US$60,556. Males had a median income of US$32,059 versus US$29,934 for females. The per capita income for the town was US$20,241. About 3.4% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
Colma: The Musical
The 2007 American low-budget independent film, Colma: The Musical was shot on location in Colma. The film has won several special jury prizes at local and international film festivals.[8][9]
References
- ^ U.S. Census
- ^ a b c d e f Carol Pogash (3 December 2006). "Colma, Calif., Is a Town of 2.2 Square Miles, Most of It 6 Feet Deep". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/us/09cemetery.html?ex=1323320400&en=0aa1719b7d513007&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ Luo, Michael (2003-11-07). "One-of-a-Kind Real Estate Deal For Eternal Rest in Manhattan". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/07/nyregion/one-of-a-kind-real-estate-deal-for-eternal-rest-in-manhattan.html?scp=2&sq=New%20york%20marble%20cemetery&st=cse&pagewanted=2. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ M.Papineau, B.George, J.Buxton et al., Environmental Impact Report for the Metro Center, Colma, California, Earth Metrics report 10062, prepared for the city of Colma and the California State Clearinghouse (1989)
- ^ "BART - Station Overviews, Colma Station". Stations & Schedules. Bay Area Rapid Transit. 2007. http://www.bart.gov/stations/stationguide/stationoverview_colma.asp. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ All data are derived from the United States Census Bureau reports from the 2010 United States Census, and are accessible on-line here. The data on unmarried partnerships and same-sex married couples are from the Census report DEC_10_SF1_PCT15. All other housing and population data are from Census report DEC_10_DP_DPDP1. Both reports are viewable online or downloadable in a zip file containing a comma-delimited data file. The area data, from which densities are calculated, are available on-line here. Percentage totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. The Census Bureau defines families as a household containing one or more people related to the householder by birth, opposite-sex marriage, or adoption. People living in group quarters are tabulated by the Census Bureau as neither owners nor renters. For further details, see the text files accompanying the data files containing the Census reports mentioned above.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Manohla Dargis (July 6, 2007). "Big Teenage Dreams, Small-Town Doldrums". The New York Times. http://movies2.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/movies/06colm.html?th&emc=th. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
- ^ "Colma: The Musical". GreenRockSolid. July 5, 2007. http://www.colmafilm.com. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
External links
Municipalities and communities of San Mateo County, California County seat: Redwood City Cities and towns Atherton | Belmont | Brisbane | Burlingame | Colma | Daly City | East Palo Alto | Foster City | Half Moon Bay | Hillsborough | Menlo Park | Millbrae | Pacifica | Portola Valley | Redwood City | San Bruno | San Carlos | San Mateo | South San Francisco | Woodside
CDPs Unincorporated
communitiesGhost towns Categories:- Incorporated cities and towns in California
- Cities in San Mateo County, California
- Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Populated places in the United States with Hispanic plurality populations
- Burials in Colma, California
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