Home of Peace Memorial Park: The Unauthorized Guide

By Mark Masek

Home of Peace Memorial Park in East Los Angeles was originally located near the current site of Dodger Stadium and opened in 1855 as the first organized community effort by the city’s pioneer Jewish settlers. The cemetery was moved to its current location in the early part of the 20th century, and contains the final resting places of some of the biggest names in the history of Hollywood, including MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle, three of the four movie-making Warner brothers, and two of the Three Stooges -– Curly and Shemp.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Masek
• Release date: Jan 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452464091

Mark Masek

Mark Masek was born and raised in Joliet, Ill., about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. He was always interested in history and Hollywood and, when he moved to the Los Angeles area in 1999, he was able to combine his interests, and wrote "Hollywood Remains to Be Seen: A Guide to the Movie Stars' Final Homes," a detailed history and guidebook to 14 cemeteries in the Los Angeles area, as well as a guide to find the final burial locations of more than 300 entertainment celebrities. He is also a member of the Hollywood Underground, a group of people with the similar interests of finding and documenting the final resting places of celebrities. If they're famous, and they're dead, and they're buried somewhere in the Los Angeles area, he probably knows where to find them.

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Home of Peace Memorial Park: The Unauthorized Guide

Mark Masek

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Copyright 2012 Mark Masek

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Home of Peace Memorial Park

4334 Whittier Blvd.

Los Angeles, Calif. 90023

History: Like Calvary Cemetery across Whittier Boulevard, the history of Home of Peace Memorial Park begins in the middle of the 19th century, at a location northwest of Los Angeles, near the current site of Dodger Stadium.

The Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles was formed in 1854 with its prime objective being the creation of a cemetery to serve the city’s small but growing Jewish population. The group selected a three-acre site near the current intersection of Lilac Terrace and Lookout Drive in the Chavez Ravine area, just a few hundred yards from the first Calvary Cemetery, which opened 10 years earlier. The site, which was purchased from the city for $1, was officially known as the Hebrew Benevolent Society Burial Ground, but more commonly referred to as simply the Jewish Cemetery.

The cemetery was fenced and officially opened in April 1855, but the first burial didn’t take place there until 1858. In 1861, the Home of Peace Society – an organization of Jewish women – was formed to assist with the upkeep and maintenance at the cemetery. This location was the city’s only Jewish cemetery for 44 years, and a total of 360 people were buried there.

In 1902, when the cemetery reached its capacity, Congregation B’nai B’rith – now known as the Wilshire Boulevard Temple –