Out beneath the scorching sun of Imperial Valley, California, is a cemetery that became a wasteland.

For
decades, Memory Gardens has turned from a tended burial ground where plants were carefully grown in the
arid environment, to a dry expanse of parched earth. The cemetery of Imperial, California, sold its last plot in
1967, although burials continued for those who purchased space. The sign out front, visible from the passing
road, still promises green hills and a leafy tree, but the only flora that grows are plastic flowers shoved into the
cracks in the baked ground. Imperial Valley has long been an unfriendly place to live. As cited by the Los
Angeles Times, Audubon lamented the area as "most melancholy" in 1846, and a Franciscan friar bemoaned it
as a "deadly place" on an early Spanish expedition. However, irrigation at the beginning of the 20th century
brought people to make it their home. In 1963, Memory Gardens was licensed, but it lost that license by
1967 due to poor management that left the place in a bad state of repair. The property was later foreclosed on.
 Aerial view of Memory Gardens (via Google Earth)

Street view of the cemetery (via Google Earth)

Entrance of the cemetery (via Google Earth)

Things went downhill from there, especially when the recession spurred the economic decline in the
community and the recent drought sapped what life remained from the land. Bills and workers at the cemetery
went unpaid, the utilities were turned off, and according toa 2009 Washington Post article, it appeared
someone was even squatting into the abandoned cemetery office. There were promises along the way to
upkeep the cemetery and some efforts to improve the grounds, but for the over 800 people buried here, the
main care has continued to be from family members who refuse to forget. The Los Angeles Times described in
2005 one family member hoisting a 100-galloon water tank each week to tend to plants at her family plot.
Find a Grave has photographs of many of the grave markers, their metal nameplates dusty with the dirt.
According to a December 2012 Imperial Valley Press article, the United Veterans Council of Imperial County
was attempting to help with 17 of the 80 acres. However, as these photographs from this year show, the
cemetery remains in a state of desert decay, the plots of the deceased disappearing in the thirsty soil.

All photographs by zachofalltrades unless indicated.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/memory-gardens-imperial-california