Weimar Sanatorium Cemetery, Weimar, California

The Weimar Project is a joint effort by the Colfax Area Historical Society, the Colfax Veterans of Foreign Wars California Post 2003, and the American Legion Colfax Post 192 District #7, all located in Colfax, Placer County, California, to honor the people buried in the Weimar Cemetery.

The Weimar Cemetery was originally a part of the Weimar Joint Sanatorium for tuberculosis patients, which operated under various names from 1919-1972. Patients who died at the Sanatorium and who had no other means of burial were interred on the Sanatorium property AKA the Weimar Cemetery.*

Since this was essentially a Potter's Field, instead of traditional tombstones each grave was assigned a number which was engraved onto a brass disc. The graves were marked by a piece of 2x6 wood with the corresponding brass disc attached. Records in the Sanatorium office translated names to numbers and vice-versa. The records also had information on where the person lived before being admitted to the Sanatorium and other data.

Over time, records disappeared and errors crept into the remaining information during various data transfers, so there was uncertainty about exact who is buried in the Weimar Cemetery and where they were buried.

In 2012, a massive research effort was implemented, which included examining every death certificate in Placer County for the 50+ years the Weimar Cemetery was in operation and reconciling that data with the remaining Weimar Sanatorium records as well as information available on Ancestry.com. As a result of this work, all of the people buried in the cemetery have been identified, and are listed in the transcription described above and on Find a Grave. Specific grave numbers were also identified, except for burials 1-107 because those records no longer exist.

The Weimar Cemetery is now part of the Colfax Cemetery District.

• The Weimar Institute, the owner of the former Sanatorium property [as of 2012], has added burials to the cemetery during recent years. These graves have regular headstones.

The Weimar Project is an attempt to resolve as many discrepancies as possible, which includes reviewing every Placer County Death Certificate during the 50-year timeframe that the cemetery was in use. We are also identifying veterans of military service where possible. Using metal detectors and GPS, a map of the graves which still have brass discs will be generated and an effort will be made to determine the location of graves with missing discs.

We will also be putting up a memorial to military veterans and a kiosk with a list of interments and a map of the graves. Hopefully at some time funding will be acquired to replace the wooden markers with more permanent ones.