Colma, California — A Modern Necropolis

The town of Colma, California was founded in 1924 as a necropolis by cemetery operators.  As described in Carol Pogash, Colma, Calif., Is a Town of 2.2 Square Miles, Most of It 6 Feet Deep, NY Times, Dec. 9, 2006, the purpose of founders was

to protect graveyards from capricious acts of government. The businesses of many of those operators had been disrupted a decade earlier when the city of San Francisco, 10 miles to the north, evicted all but a couple of the 26 cemeteries there, along with the thousands of bodies they held. The city’s politicians had argued that cemeteries spread disease, but the true reason for the eviction was the rising value of real estate * * *

As of 2004, the city had a population of 1,280 living individuals.  On the other hand, the city is “home” to approximately 1,500,000 deceased individuals.