Madronia Cemetery is one of Santa Clara County’s most picturesque pioneer cemeteries, where the graves lie beneath the redwoods and magnolia trees on 10.5 acres. Like Saratoga itself, Madronia is somewhat exclusive, with only Saratoga and Monte Sereno property owners being able to buy plots.

Madronia Cemetery dates back to the 1850’s when Jose Ramon Arguello donated one acre of his land grant for a burial ground. Arguello, the son of a California governor under Mexican rule, acquired a large section of Rancho Quito. The oldest standing monument dates the death of a man in his early twenties in 1852. The McCartyville (former name of Saratoga) residents formed a non-profit cemetery association named Madronia, after the red-trunked madrone trees on the site and recording of the burials began in 1854.