People ex rel. Keller v. La Vista Cemetery Ass'n

Plaintiffs brought this action to quiet the title of the public and the county of San Diego in and to an easement for a public street or highway across La Vista Cemetery, and to enjoin defendants from interfering with the use of said highway by the public. The area in dispute lies entirely within the boundaries of the cemetery and is shown on the cemetery map as Main Avenue. We shall hereinafter use that name as indicating the area in dispute. Defendants filed a cross-complaint seeking in essence a decree of court that plaintiffs’ public has no right to go upon the property except for legitimate cemetery purposes. For the sake of brevity, we will refer to the parties as plaintiffs and defendants. The court rendered judgment for defendants against plaintiffs, and plaintiffs appeal.

The record before us shows substantially the following *199 facts. The general area now occupied by the La Vista Cemetery has been used as a cemetery since about the year 1870. Prior to the year 1894 the record does not show what, if any, maps or plats were recorded. In 1894, La Vista Cemetery Association was formed, took title to the area including the then existing cemetery, and filed in the office of…