San Mateo County Cemeteries: Harrington (Belmont)

Google Earth
Lat: 37°30'12"N, Long: 122°19'26

It was noted in the 1931 that this pioneer cemetery had not changed since the days of the early settlers.  A clump of oak trees stood guard over four graves which lay on a little knoll about four miles west of Belmont.  King's Mountain stood beyond the Spring Valley lakes obscuring the view of the Pacific Ocean.

FindAGrave lists 28 burials for Harrington Cemetery, however, the majority of those listed appear to be incorrect.  I have seen no documentation of any but the four burials listed below.  In fact most of the burials attached to this cemetery date long after the cemetery which was supposedly used only from 1855-1859 was defunct.

Fred Kemmerle's historical of the cemetery, which can be found on Interment.net , provides a different and more likely to be accurate picture.  He visited the cemetery in 1966 and photographed and transcribed the tombstones.

He notes that the cemetery was established by William Harrington in the winter of 1855-1856.  At the time, measles had hit the community and several people had died.  He adds that the cemetery was used until 1859 and then abandoned. He goes on to share the allegation that Harrington had used a sled to bring the coffins up the hill during that rainy winter.

Photo by Margaret Melaney

Besides the four named burials several Native Americans who had worked for the Harrington family were purportedly buried there, with the burials marked by wooden tombstones that had long disappeared.

Denny Lawhern of Belmont HS
with stones from Harrington Cemetery
Photo by Margaret Melaney

In the 1970s the stones were removed from the site, due to vandalism.

They are currently located in the Belmont Historical Society Museum.

Known Burials
Elizabeth Finch 19 Feb 1821 - 24 Apr 1855
Francis M. Meredith d. 7 Jan 1856 age 22
Richard A Harrington d. 10 Jan 1856 age 7 m 21 d
Eliza S Kinneson d. 9 Sep 1858 age 18 y 17d