Bronze Plaques San Diego

In San Diego County the public cemeteries publish their numbers and the private parks do not. Mount Hope, run by the City of San Diego, prints a flat marker installation fee; the Pomerado Cemetery District at Dearborn Memorial Park in Poway prints its grave sizes, thickness rule and setting fee; and the Elsinore Valley and Murrieta Valley districts just over the county line print theirs. Greenwood, El Camino, Glen Abbey and Holy Cross publish no marker rules at all, so for those the first step is a call to the office. This page gathers what each one says, with every fee dated, and explains why Miramar and Fort Rosecrans are not places for a private plaque. We cast the bronze and ship it to any San Diego address with shipping included; the base and the setting are arranged through the cemetery or a local monument dealer.

Mount Hope, the City of San Diego’s cemetery

Mount Hope on Market Street is operated by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department (619-527-3400). Its resident and nonresident fee sheets, “Prices Effective July 1, 2025”, both charge “Flat Marker Installation $342.00”, and an upright monument foundation is also $342.00. The city’s earlier schedule, effective September 8, 2015, charged the same $293.00 for a bronze or a granite flat marker, a sign that Mount Hope does not price bronze differently. Older sections allow flat or upright markers and newer sections flat markers only. No city document found sets bronze dimensions, a base requirement or who sets the marker, so before ordering ask the office three things: the maximum size for your section, whether the bronze must arrive on a granite base, and whether city staff or a monument company sets it. As a city cemetery, Mount Hope is outside the state rule that governs private parks.

Dearborn Memorial Park in Poway

The Pomerado Cemetery District’s marker sheet (April 11, 2024) is the most specific in the county. A single standard grave takes a 28 by 16 inch marker and two graves side by side a 36 by 16 inch marker; cremation and infant graves use sizes including 18 by 9 inches; veterans’ 24 by 12 inch markers “Do NOT fit in CRB Section”. Thickness must be “Minimum 3″ – not to exceed 4″”, one marker is allowed per grave, a standard concrete border goes around every marker, and “UP-RIGHT MARKERS ARE NOT PERMITTED – FLAT GRANITE OR BRONZE MARKERS ONLY.” Markers must arrive with documentation listing name, material and size. District personnel set every marker flush and embedded in concrete, and the setting fee is collected in advance: $847.00 for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, up from $760 in 2023-24 and $790.00 in 2024-25. Burial is limited to qualified residents and taxpayers of the district. Confirm with the office whether a bronze plaque must come mounted on a granite base to reach the 3 inch thickness.

Greenwood, El Camino, Glen Abbey and Holy Cross

Greenwood Memorial Park belongs to NorthStar Memorial Group, and its General Price List effective 1/29/2026 has no marker or setting lines. El Camino Memorial and Glen Abbey in Bonita are Dignity Memorial parks with no published marker rules. Greenwood, El Camino and Glen Abbey are private parks, so if they are licensed, non-religious cemeteries the state rule on uniform charges applies; ask each office for its flush marker specification and its setting fee in writing. Holy Cross Cemetery on Hilltop Drive, run by the Catholic Cemeteries of San Diego, publishes no marker rules, and as a religious cemetery it is outside that state rule, so ask whether an outside bronze is accepted at all. We found no fee figure from any of the four that comes from the cemetery itself.

Elsinore Valley and Murrieta Valley districts

North of the county, two Riverside County districts publish full rules. Elsinore Valley Cemetery District (revised July 1, 2026) charges $140.00 to set each standard marker and prints a first marker of 16 by 28 inches, a second marker of 12 by 18, cremains 12 by 18 and side by side cremains 12 by 24. Every marker “MUST BE FULL SIZE GRANITE” and at least 3 inches thick, so a bronze plaque would have to be mounted on a full size granite marker; confirm the district accepts that before ordering. Installation takes 7 to 10 working days. Murrieta Valley Cemetery District (policy revised 11/27/2018) takes a single grave marker of 16 by 28 by 3 inches all granite, or 12 by 24 by 3 inches with a 3 inch border (18 by 30 by 3 overall), and “Only District personnel may set the markers.” Valley Center Cemetery District publishes no marker policy online.

San Diego area fees and sizes

Miramar and Fort Rosecrans national cemeteries

Miramar National Cemetery on Nobel Drive states that “Items of any type will not be secured to Headstones, Niches, Memorial Markers or Memorial Monuments”, and Fort Rosecrans on Point Loma “is closed to new interments” except subsequent interments in an existing gravesite. At both, the cemetery orders and sets the government marker. Our bronze serves veterans in Mount Hope, Dearborn and the private parks, where a family may choose a private marker carrying military emblems and a VA medallion, and where the government marker, if chosen, is set at private expense. See veteran bronze grave markers.

What we supply in San Diego

We supply the bronze. Every plaque is cast in solid LG2 statuary bronze (85 percent copper, 5 percent tin, 5 percent zinc, 5 percent lead) with raised polished lettering on a textured background, a hand applied color and a clear protective coating. Cemetery markers are cast with lugs and fitted with 3/8 inch brass all thread studs, nuts and washers for bolting to a granite or concrete base; columbarium plates use 1/4 inch fittings. We publish the alloy openly and can supply a certificate of authenticity stating it, so a cemetery that has its own alloy rule can check our figures against it before you order; a few cemeteries specify a higher copper or lower lead content than LG2, and where a page knows of one it says so. The granite or concrete base and the setting are arranged through the cemetery office or a local monument dealer; we do not pour bases or install.

At Dearborn the 28 by 16 inch single grave takes a 24 by 12 inch plaque on a granite base, $1,697.45 cast to order, and its 18 by 9 inch cremation size is within our range. The gazebo niches take a 7 by 7 inch plate, also inside our range; for comparison a 10 by 10 inch plate is $796.86, and the designer prices the exact size as you type it. Ask Pomerado first whether outside niche plates are accepted.

What the plaque itself costs, shipped to San Diego

The table below is our price for the cast bronze plaque itself, read from the design tool on this website on 21 October 2026 for a standard rectangle with the default border and background. Every figure is in US dollars and includes shipping to any address in San Diego.

Any cemetery charge quoted higher on this page, such as a setting fee, a permit, a foundation or an endowment care charge, is paid to the cemetery and is separate from our price. Add the two together for the full installed cost. Open the design tool, type in the size your cemetery allows, and the exact price for that size appears before you order.

How to order

1. Ask the cemetery office for its written marker rules: the size it allows for your space, the base it requires, who may set the marker and the fee. Most offices email the sheet the same day, and several states require the cemetery to keep it in print for you.
2. Open the free design tool, pick the shape and type the width and height in inches. The price in US dollars updates as you go, shipping to any address in the continental United States included.
3. Add the names, dates and wording, choose a border and background, and add an emblem, motif or photo if you want one. Choose lugs with studs if the plaque will be bolted to a granite or concrete base, or a flat back for adhesive mounting on a wall or niche.
4. Save the design and order it from My Account. We send a written proof you can forward to the cemetery for approval, and nothing is cast until you approve it. Need the full 24 by 12 inch marker size? Tell us when you order; it is cast to order at the same price as the 22 1/16 by 12 inch size in the tool.

Allow six to eight weeks from payment to delivery. Casting, hand finishing and shipping from our foundry take most of that time, and we send a free written proof before anything is cast. If your cemetery sets markers only in certain months, order early enough for its next installation window.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Mount Hope charge to install a bronze marker?

Mount Hope’s fee sheets, effective July 1, 2025, charge $342.00 for flat marker installation for residents and nonresidents alike. The fee is paid to the City and is separate from our plaque price.

Does Dearborn Memorial Park accept bronze markers?

Yes. The Pomerado district’s April 2024 sheet says flat granite or bronze markers only, 28 by 16 inches for a single grave, 3 to 4 inches thick, set by district staff in concrete for $847.00 in 2026-27.

Can I use an outside marker at Holy Cross in San Diego?

Holy Cross publishes no marker rules, and as a Catholic cemetery it is outside California’s private cemetery rule. Ask the office whether it accepts an outside bronze before ordering.

Can a private plaque go in Miramar or Fort Rosecrans?

No. Both are VA national cemeteries that order and set the government marker, and Fort Rosecrans is closed to new interments except in existing gravesites.

What size plaque fits a 28 by 16 inch San Diego grave?

A 24 by 12 inch bronze on a 28 by 16 inch granite base leaves a 2 inch border on every side. We cast the 24 by 12 to order at the 22 1/16 by 12 inch price.