A major landmark in West Adams is the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. Still in operation under the direction of the Angelus Funeral Home, it was founded as Rosedale Cemetery in 1884. It has grounds of 65 acres bounded by Venice Blvd., Washington Blvd., Normandie Avenue, and Walton Avenue. Many of the early luminaries of Los Angeles are buried here, including a number of the city's mayors.

Rosedale was from its beginning the first cemetery in Los Angeles open to all races and creeds. Among its headstones are many prominent African Americans, Latinos, Japanese, and Chinese Angelinos. It was one of the first "lawn" cemeteries, built like a park with monumental stone art, many trees, and wide swaths of grassy meadow. Its grounds include a section of Civil War dead in rows of neat military headstones, as well as imposing tombs of famous Los Angeles families.

The West Adams Heritage Association has worked to reawaken memories of these past residents by sponsoring its annual Living History Tours. Each year in the fall five or six famous or interesting people buried at Angelus Rosedale are selected, their lives researched, and community members enlisted to portray them, in costume. Here is a link to some photos of the 2007 Living History Tour elsewhere on our website.

We are presenting in this part of our website two sections on Angelus Rosedale. Angelus Rosedale News and Links features articles about the cemetery or about WAHA's Living History Tours, as well as links to such coverage on other websites. Angelus Rosedale Biographies offers a few sketches of the many fascinating people who have their final resting place within its walls. Also see our section of biographies of people who lived in West Adams. (To avoid duplication, if the person lived in West Adams their sketch is in that section even if they are also buried at Angelus Rosedale.)