In October 2022, we made a video expressing our concerns about the old Potter’s Field Cemetery at 11269 Garfield Avenue in Downey, and the unanswered question of what happened to many thousands of cremated remains of Rancho Los Amigos residents that were buried there in the 1930s.

We’ve created this dedicated blog post to share updates as we continue to seek information about the historic burials and to advocate for a permanent memorial to the people who were interred here.

Public records inquiries and responses to date:

• On September 26, 2022, we were informed that the Los Angeles County Department of Decedent Affairs had found no records, and advised to inquire with the Los Angeles County Registrar/County Clerk for Death Records, and with the California Department of Consumer Affairs Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.

• On October 29, 2022, the Los Angeles County Registrar/County Clerk responded “The information you are requesting is not housed or recorded with the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.”

• On November 8, 2022, the Department of Consumer Affairs Cemetery and Funeral Bureau responded, “The Bureau does not have any responsive records to your request. Please note that the Bureau licenses and regulates fraternal and private cemeteries only. It has no jurisdiction over cemeteries operated by religious organizations, cities, counties, or cemetery districts; the military; Native American tribal organizations; or other groups. Therefore, because the Bureau does not license and regulate county cemeteries, there is no information the Bureau can provide as it pertains to the Los Angeles County Poor Farm aka Rancho Los Amigos South Campus.”

• On July 11, 2023, Malia Miglino shared a short video about the status of the burials at the Poor Farm cemetery to her macabremalia Instagram and la_history_girl TikTok accounts, including her inquiries with Downey’s city planner and the contractors for the new development on the parcel. We appreciate the increased awareness for this issue and continue to hope answers will be forthcoming before ground is broken for the project.

• At its meeting on September 9, 2025, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors considered item #10. Ground Lease Term Extension for the Proposed Affordable Housing Development for County-Owned Property, voting yes on consent. The site under consideration is the historic Rancho Los Amigos cemetery, and after seeing this motion, we reached out to Janice Hahn’s office to express our concern. We were assured that they are working with the State Historic Resources Office and an outside contractor to ensure a proper archeological survey takes place before any construction occurs. This means any remains left behind when the cemetery stopped being used will not end up in the landfill, Our hope is that after any former residents of Rancho Los Amigos site are located and moved to an active cemetery, a memorial garden can be installed, with a plaque honoring the souls who long rested here. Continue to watch this space!

• On March 3, 2026, we published a newsletter and the above video: L.A. County Contractor’s Report: Ground Penetrating Radar Shows 19th Century Poor Farm Cemetery Likely Still Present at Redevelopment Site… & today, a crew was seen working under a big white tent.

what can you do to help carry the weight of the stewardship crisis surrounding the Rancho Los Amigos Poor Farm Cemetery? A lot! You can: • Share the link to this newsletter with others who care. • Send a message to Supervisor Janice Hahn—by phone at (213) 626-6941 or by email to FourthDistrict@bos.lacounty.gov—and let her know that you care about the Rancho Los Amigos Poor Farm Cemetery and want her to hold a public meeting explaining the plans for the site, the treatment and disposition of any human remains or grave goods that are uncovered during construction, and how the dead will be memorialized at the new housing development. • If you are in the area, please visit 11269 Garfield Avenue and take photos and video to document the current status of the cemetery. You can share what you see in the comments below, or email us directly at tours@esotouric.com. Please let us know if you notice any activity that might involve disinterment of human remains or removal of caskets or cremation urns.

The only way to end this post is with Rev. Dylan’s prayer for the dead: Loving God, we have read the names of all who are entered here. Their eternal resting place is at risk of being destroyed, desecrated, obliterated, and made unknown. We ask that you will not only save this sacred place, but save the names of all those people who we have read here today, that their names will not become unknown, that in their death they will have eternal life through our memory of them.

And now you are up to speed, and can be a voice for those who lost their voices more than a century ago. Let’s not settle for lazy, sloppy work. The Rancho Los Amigos Poor Farm Cemetery belongs to all of us, and its fate is in our hands. Amen.

Virtual Poor Farm Cemetery memorial and death records:

• Find A Grave page for the cemetery, with less than 100 listed burials.

• Family Search database of California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994, search results for deaths at Rancho Los Amigos.