Why would a city show Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" in a graveyard? Tomorrow night, Dublin's free Cinema at the Cemetery takes place in the Dublin Pioneer Cemetery. That cemetery began in 1859 with a single burial, of a man who died while helping build Old St. Raymond's Church.
Look at the City of Dublin's October events roundup for October 29 through November 1, and this one screening is the only city event listed for Halloween weekend. So Dublin is spending the year's spookiest weekend at its oldest address. The setting is also more deliberate than it looks. Most of Heritage Park was moved here or kept on purpose, piece by piece, over about 150 years.
The Screen Is a 1910 Hay Barn
Here is what the City's event page lists for Friday, October 30, 2026:
- Where: Dublin Heritage Park & Museums, 6600 Donlon Way
- Cost: Free
- Cemetery tours: Free guided tours of the Pioneer Cemetery at 5:30 p.m.
- Showtime: The movie starts at dusk, about 30 minutes after sunset. The city calendar lists the event as 6:00 to 8:45 p.m.
- What to bring: A blanket or a lawn chair
- Contact: 925-556-4500
The City's listing also says what the screen is. The film will be projected onto the Historic Kolb Ranch Hay Barn, built in 1910. Here is how the City puts the invitation:
"Gather your bravest friends, bring a blanket or lawn chair, and settle in among the historic headstones for a spine-tingling screening of a classic horror and thriller movie."
So the screen is a farm building that is more than a century old, and the seats are a lawn beside graves dating to 1859. A 5:30 arrival covers the cemetery tour and leaves time to set up chairs before dark.
The First Grave Came With the Church
The Pioneer Cemetery didn't begin as a planned burial ground. The City says it was established in 1859 with the burial of Tom Donlon, who fell to his death while helping build Old St. Raymond's Church. That surname is still on the map. The park's street address is Donlon Way.
A City-hosted local history timeline adds detail. Michael Murray and Jeremiah Fallon donated the land for both the church and the cemetery. The church was finished in 1859 and dedicated in 1860. The timeline calls Donlon the first formal burial and notes that earlier burials had taken place in the churchyard. Murray and Fallon are also familiar Dublin street names, so walking the cemetery path means reading names you drive past every day.
The cemetery is still active, but the City says no plots are available for purchase. The City describes the walk as a path under large oak and walnut trees. Along it you can read the tombstone inscriptions and the family history signs placed among the graves. The 5:30 p.m. tour on Friday follows that path.
A Town Square Assembled Over 150 Years
The church and cemetery have stood on this ground since 1859. Most of what surrounds them came later, and much of it was moved in. Here is how the City's history timeline records it:
- 1856: The Murray School building goes up. It started as the first school in eastern Alameda County, though the timeline notes another account that puts the school's opening in 1869.
- 1859: St. Raymond's Church is finished, and Tom Donlon's burial starts the cemetery.
- 1860: St. Raymond's Church is dedicated.
- 1894: John Green sells his general store to the Kolb family.
- 1910: The Kolb Ranch Hay Barn is built.
- By 1964: The old church is no longer in use.
- 1966: A new St. Raymond's opens on Shannon Avenue, and the historical society takes over the original church to restore it.
- 1975: The Murray School is moved next to Old St. Raymond's and the Pioneer Cemetery, creating the Dublin Heritage Center.
- 2009: Kolb farm buildings are moved to Dublin Heritage Park.
That sequence explains the setting. When St. Raymond's moved to Shannon Avenue in 1966, the old church could have been lost. It was restored instead, and it became the anchor for a historic district that grew around it. The schoolhouse arrived in 1975 and the Kolb buildings in 2009. When the projector comes on Friday, the audience will be sitting among buildings Dublin brought together because it wanted to keep them.
The Ghost Tours Came First
The cemetery screening is the second of two October weekends at Heritage Park. On Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24, the City ran Ghosts of Dublin. These were one-hour walking tours that left every half hour, according to the City's October roundup.
Each tour covered the whole site. The City calendar listing describes a walk through the cemetery, ghost stories and images inside Old St. Raymond Church, and a stop inside Kolb House. Guests checked in at the Sunday School Barn. Tickets were $15 for residents and $18 for non-residents, with a recommended age of 8 and up. Tours after 9 p.m. were for older teens and adults. Patch's Tri-Valley Halloween roundup reported that the stories included recent experiences and that actors re-enacted scenes.
The two events use the same grounds differently. The ghost tours charged admission, set age guidance and took small groups through the buildings at night. The movie is free, open to everyone and held on the open lawn. If you missed the ghost tours last weekend, the 5:30 cemetery tour on Friday covers some of the same ground at no cost.
Dublin's Newest Corner Is Choosing Its Art the Same Weekend
On the same weekend Dublin's oldest site hosts its Halloween movie, the city is asking residents to help decide what one of its newest corners will look like. The City is collecting votes on public art for a new plaza at Tassajara Road and Dublin Boulevard. The City calls that intersection a prominent gateway that thousands of residents and visitors will pass every day.
The plaza is part of Dublin Centre, a new mixed-use development whose five neighborhoods combine single-family homes, townhomes and live/work shophouses with walkable streets, retail space and a new public park. Three finalist designs remain. Votes from the short survey go to the developer, Risewell Homes, and to City staff. After that, the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission and the City Council review the designs and approve the final one. The survey closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, according to the City's announcement.
The survey stays open two days after the screening, so you can watch the movie on Friday and still vote by Sunday night.
Coming Back on an Ordinary Tuesday
The park is open long after Halloween. The City lists Dublin Heritage Park & Museums as a 10-acre park, open to the public during daylight hours. The grounds include historic buildings, lawns, the cemetery and picnic areas.
There are two museums on site. The 1856 Murray Schoolhouse has a permanent exhibit on Dublin's history, and Kolb House is a historic house museum. According to the City's facility page, admission to both is free during regular hours:
- Tuesdays, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Thursdays, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The facility page has no posted date, so check the hours with the City before a weekday visit.
The site also has one reservable picnic area that seats 80 and has two barbecues. Reservations are made through the City's online recreation system. Inflatable jump houses and similar equipment are not allowed. Barbecue grills, drinking fountains, restrooms and walking paths are also on site.
Come back on a Saturday morning and the oak-and-walnut path is quiet. You can read the family signs at your own pace and step into the schoolhouse that has been a Dublin landmark since 1856.
At The Sidhu Team, we enjoy seeing how a city decides what to keep. Dublin restored a church it no longer used, moved in a schoolhouse and a set of farm buildings, and now shows Hitchcock on the side of a 1910 barn. If you live in Dublin and are wondering how your own home's history, upgrades and location add up in today's market, we would be glad to walk you through it. Get Your Home Valuation, and we will give you an honest look at what your home is worth.
