Grave of Emperor Norton I

A large granite monument marks the resting place of Joshua Abraham Norton, a failed businessman who declared himself Emperor of the United States in eighteen fifty-nine. San Francisco merchants and newspapers humored his eccentricity for decades, printing his proclamations and even saluting him on the street. When he died in eighteen eighty, thousands followed his hearse through the city. The Pacific Club paid for this headstone, which identifies him simply as Norton the First, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.