Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainVictorian Burial Ground on Santa Margarita Drive
1177 Santa Margarita Dr, Fallbrook, CA 92028
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Cemetery is open to the public at no charge.
Access
Limited Access
Partially paved paths with uneven ground throughout
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1917 · Masonic Heritage · Fallbrook Pioneer Burials · 1918 Influenza Victims
In 1916, the Masonic Lodge in Fallbrook authorized Horatio Smelser to identify land for a dedicated cemetery. The following year, W. M. Smelser presented a preliminary plat to Lodge members, and the first interments followed almost immediately — Eliza Smelser and Reasylvia Fair were among the earliest burials in 1917.
The influenza epidemic of 1918 left its mark on the cemetery's early records. Both Horatio Smelser himself and Dot Fair Smelser, who died during that outbreak, were subsequently interred in the Smelser Section near the Memorial Circle. Their graves stand among the oldest markers on the property.
By 1921, the Masonic Cemetery Association held a deed to ten acres at the corner of Hillcrest Lane and Santa Margarita Road. The first recorded community gathering at the site was Memorial Day 1922, when a service led by the minister of Fallbrook's First Baptist Church brought residents together to honor the dead — a tradition rooted in the broader civic role that Masonic institutions played in San Diego County during the early twentieth century.
Administered by the Fallbrook Masonic Lodge #317, Free and Accepted Masons of California, the cemetery operates with an endowment fund and remains open to the general public regardless of faith affiliation. As of the late 1990s, approximately 3,000 interments occupied roughly two-thirds of the ten-acre site, leaving the western portion available for future use.
The cemetery's institutional origin dates to 1916, when Horatio Smelser was authorized by the Fallbrook Masonic Lodge to locate suitable land for a burial ground. The following year W. M. Smelser presented a preliminary plat to the lodge membership. Fallbrook Masonic Lodge #317, Free and Accepted Masons of California, continues to administer and maintain the cemetery through an endowment fund, while keeping it open to the general public and all faiths.
Sources
The paranormal reports at Masonic Cemetery in Fallbrook are unusual for their specificity — not apparitions or disembodied voices, but a physical sensation concentrated in the trees.
Visitors have described touching certain older oaks on the grounds and experiencing what they call a strong surge of heated energy radiating from the bark. The accounts are consistent enough in their description that they represent a distinct pattern, though the number of independent witnesses and the precise locations of the affected trees are not documented in any formal investigation record found during research.
The pre-analyzed metadata categorizes this as a possible residual loop or sensed presence phenomenon, with the historical context flagging the site as a potential mass burial location related to epidemic trauma. The 1918 influenza interments in the Smelser Section — among the earliest burials on the property — provide one historical layer that local tradition might associate with lingering energy. Whether the oak trees in question stand near those early graves is not confirmed by available sources.
Walk the ten-acre grounds and read the headstones of Fallbrook's founding families, including the Smelser section near the Memorial Circle where influenza-era burials from 1918 cluster together. Some visitors report a strong surge of warmth when touching the older oak trees.
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