Cayucos Morrow Bay Cemetery – Cayucos CA

Description

Situated on the east side of Ocean Boulevard, in a little valley is the town of Cayucos’s only cemetery.

The front of the cemetery is defined by a low masonry wall constructed by the WPA in 1940.

It is made of light gray to iron-colored uncut stone laid in random courses. A few stones are arranged in odd patterns to provide visual interest. Approximately 335’ long, it is divided into three sections. Masonry posts topped with concrete balls are placed at intervals along its path.

The cemetery improvement project began in the winter of 1940, but stalled for a time because of muddy conditions. It finished in June of the same year.

The WPA gathered the rock from a quarry at Chorro Creek at Morro Park, approximately 7.5 miles to the south. Work-relief laborers additionally created roads, installed sprinklers and removed “superfluous materials” from the cemetery.

The work is typical of an enhancement project, where the WPA made improvements to an existing facility. For many cemetery projects this included building labor-intensive walls. Similar masonry walls created by the WPA are found in cemeteries across the United States.