Orange County has plenty of gated communities. This one comes with headstones and a ghost story.
Tucked into Yorba Linda’s Woodgate Park neighborhood, Historic Yorba Cemetery preserves a piece of the county’s rancho era. Bernardo Yorba’s 13,000-acre Rancho Cañon de Santa Ana, granted in 1834, once owned the land. His 1858 will set aside property for a cemetery. The county accepted its deed in 1967, and it closed in 1939.
Then there is the Pink Lady, a spirit supposedly connected to a woman returning from a dance. A spooky local tale? Yes. Established history? No. Historian Chris Jepsen traces the story to librarian Mary Ruth Erickson, who assembled a Halloween tale for children using old ghost stories and local names. In his account, the woman associated with the legend did not die in the buggy accident described in popular retellings.
The cemetery’s real appeal is its connection to families who lived here long before today’s neighborhoods. OC Parks lists tours from 10 to 11 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month, except May. Check with the park before visiting. The history is worth the trip, even if the ghost declines to appear.
