In 1905, a group of businessmen pooled their resources to form the Inglewood Park Cemetery Association. At that time, the Centinela Valley was a sparsely settled area of farms and small homes. Funeral processions came from Los Angeles on horse-drawn flat carts. Later, with the spread of the railroads, mourners arrived at the cemetery in specially designed funeral cars like the Descanso. The first interment was made on July 20, 1906. There were a total of 32 interments during the first year, a number which was to increase dramatically over the years. In 1913, seeing the possibilities for affordable crypt entombment— a means of burial usually reserved for the well-to-do in those days—Inglewood Park built the first community mausoleum in the state of California. Many of the original settlers of the Centinela Valley and the South Bay region are entombed in Inglewood Mausoleum, as are a number of Civil War Veterans. Inglewood Mausoleum was to be only the first in a series of structures to be added over the years, making “the burial of kings” available to all in the community. The Cemetery began building a series of Mausoleums culminating in the Sunset Mission Mausoleum providing 30,000 interment spaces which is the largest in the nation. The Cemetery also has a resident stained glass artist. There are currently about 400,000 people interred there including many performers and athletes a few of whom are listed here.
