Nordhoff Cemetary. Large live oaks spread their limbs protectively over the graves of the Nordhoff Cemetary, founded in 1870 and taken over by the city of Ojai, CA, in 1963. Dating back to the Civil War veterans who were buried in the late 1800s, the quaint cemetary retains a desert garden atmosphere. Some markers are merely native stone with the names of beloved ones scratched into them. Fading letters are barely visible on old wooden crosses. Memorabilia mark many of the plots. There are also large, impressive headstones which give entrie families recognition. But mostly, one finds simple tradition marking the resting places of those who came to this hideaway in the foothills to live, and quietly died.
