Fairmount Pioneer Cemetery was established in 1876 on land donated by James C. Preston, owner of the San Felipe Hill site and surrounding property, to serve the communities of Azusa, Glendora, and Covina. Trustees appointed by the Los Angeles County Superior Court administer the cemetery. As the eastern San Gabriel Valley grew, a cemetery was needed for the first permanent residents and homesteaders who formed the pioneering founding families of the region, and many of those families have members buried there. Fairmount is said to be the first Protestant cemetery between the San Gabriel River and Lytle Creek. Before this site, burials took place at the San Gabriel Mission or Savannah Cemetery in El Monte. The earliest burials at Fairmount included many Civil War veterans, who were among the region’s earliest pioneers. Fairmount also includes veterans from World War I and II, Korea, and other conflicts. An observance honoring these pioneers and all fallen military heroes of the region has been held there each Memorial Day since 1876.