Dark City

17. SCANDAL: They Moved the Headstones, but Not the Bodies


Listen Later

Los Angeles, CA | Imagine walking through downtown Los Angeles, oblivious to the forgotten graves beneath your feet. We’re unearthing the eerie history of Los Angeles cemeteries and graveyards where the headstones were moved, but the bodies… not so much. Did anyone learn anything from Poltergeist??  For decades, construction crews have periodically dug up surprise skeletons and more around LA.  We’ll share some of the finds in Boyle Heights through Chinatown, and give you a preview of a deeper dive we are planning to do in October on The Hollywood Forever cemetery.

Quick warning: Leah watched Midsommer this week and couldn’t not talk about it.  If you haven’t seen it and would like to be as surprised as you will be traumatized by the ending, just skip ahead of that discussion to avoid the plot spoiler around minutes 14 -15. 

Follow us for episode photos and more at:
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/darkcity.podcast
🪡 Threads: threads.net/@darkcity.podcast
👤 Facebook: facebook.com/darkcitypod
🦋 Bluesky: darkcitypodcast.bsky.social
🎥 TikTok: tiktok.com/@darkcitypod
🌎 Website: www.darkcitypodcast.com
✉️ Email:  [email protected] 

Top Sources for this Episode Include:
-Mevlville, Greg (2022). Over my dead body: Unearthing the hidden history of America’s cemeteries. Published by: Abrams Press.
-Meares, H. (2016, October 6). What lies beneath: LA’s first graveyards were abandoned, defiled, dug up, and bulldozed in the name of progress.  Curbed LA. Retrieved August 10, 2024 from https://la.curbed.com/2016/10/6/13177830/los-angeles-cemetery-history
-Waldie, D.J. (2022, October 31). Lost cemeteries of early L.A.: The forgotten burial sites of the city's earliest settlers. PBS SoCal. Retrieved August 10, 2024, from https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/lost-cemeteries-of-early-l-a-the-forgotten-burial-sites-of-the-citys-earliest-settlers
-Ehrenreich, B. (2014, March 3). Railroaded: Unearthing the history of the Chinese laborers who laid the tracks for L.A.’s rapid growth. Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved August 10, 2024 from https://lamag.com/news/railroaded
-Discover Los Angeles. (2024, May 21.). Hollywood Forever: The story of an LA icon. Discover Los Angeles. Retrieved August 10, 2024, from https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/visit/hollywood-forever-the-story-of-an-la-icon

For a full list of sources for this episode, visit us at www.darkcitypodcast.com 

Have ideas or suggestion? We would love to hear from you! Send us a text via this link.

👏 Special thanks to our talented partners:
Paolo Sbrighi for Musical Composition (instagram.com/paulosbrighi/)
Mario Cintra for Logo Design (instagram.com/alacarala/)


...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Dark CityBy Dark City Productions

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

35 ratings


More shows like Dark City

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,641 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,121 Listeners