Lone Fir Cemetery

type = Public
owner = Metro
size = 30.5 acres
graves= 25,000+
website = [http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleid=12696 official site]

Lone Fir Cemetery in the southeast section of Portland, Oregon, United States is a cemetery owned and maintained by Metro, a regional government entity. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first burial was in 1846 with the cemetery established in 1855. Lone Fir has over 25,000 burials over 30+ acres.

History

Lone Fir’s first burial came in 1846 when Emmor Stephens was buried several miles east of the small community of Portland. [http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleid=12696 Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery.] Metro. Retrieved on March 2 2008.] In 1854 Emmor’s son James B. Stephens sold the family farm to Colburn Barrell with the caveat that Barrell maintain the gravesite. The following year Barrell’s steamboat the "Gazelle", exploded near Oregon City killing a passenger and Barrell’s business partner Crawford Dobbins. (see Shipwrecks of the inland Columbia River for more detail.) Barrel then set up a cemetery by setting aside 10 acres and burying the casualties of the explosion at the site of Emmor Stephens, calling it Mt. Crawford. Plots at the cemetery were then sold for $10 with 20 additional acres being added to Lone Fir by 1866. That year Barrel offered to sell the cemetery to the city of Portland for $4,000, but the city declined and instead Barrel sold it to a group of investors. Those investors then re-named the cemetery to Lone Fir as there was only a single fir tree at the site.

In 1903, a $3,500 memorial to the soldiers of the Indian Wars, Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, and the Spanish-American War was built at the cemetery. [http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/cc/ds1/history_loneFir.shtml A Brief History of Lone Fir Cemetery.] Multnomah County. Retrieved on March 2 2008.] The Soldier’s Monument was paid for by donations by over 500 citizens. Then in 1928 Multnomah County took over control and maintenance of Lone Fir. In 1947 the county paved part of the cemetery and later constructed a building on the site.Associated Press. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/200150_cemetery18.html Parking lot may lie atop cemetery.] Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 18 2004. Retrieved on March 2 2008.] This was the location of many Chinese graves, which were removed the next year. In 2004 it was discovered that more graves likely remained at the site. In 2005 city leaders proposed removing the government building that was constructed over the graves of these Chinese immigrants and re-connecting that portion with the main cemetery; [ [http://www.portlandonline.com/leonard/index.cfm?a=hhghh&c=chedf Leaders push plan to fix historic Lone Fir cemetery.] Portland Online. Retrieved on March 2 2008.] it was removed in August 2007. [cite news
title= Demolition begins new chapter at Morrison Building site
first=Motoya
last=Nakamura
date=August 16, 2005
work=The Oregonian] In January 2007 Metro took over control of this section of the cemetery after a transfer from the county. [Oppenheimer, Laura. Metro takes over lost, historic section of Lone Fir cemetery. "The Oregonian", January 5 2007.] On August 16 2007, the cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places. [ [http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20070824.HTM Register of Historic Places: National Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 8/13/07-8/17/07] , registry number 07000824. National Park Service. Retrieved on August 31 2007.]

Currently the cemetery is located between Stark Street on the north and Morrison Street to the south, with Southeast 20th Avenue bounding on the west and Southeast 26th on the east. Lone Fir covers 30.5 acres and has over 25,000 graves, with over 10,000 of those unknown due to poor maintenance. It is home to the Pioneer Rose Garden. [History in bloom. "The Oregonian", May 24 2007.]

Notable burials

The cemetery is the final resting place for several former of the former mayors of the city, as well as other politicians and famous citizens. [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/OR/MU.html#RBB1CQ6LY Lone Fir Cemetery.] The Political Graveyard. Retrieved on March 2 2008.] [http://www.friendsoflonefircemetery.org/burialfacts.html Some Interesting Burial Facts.] Lone Fir Cemetery. Retrieved on March 2 2008.]

*J. A. Chapman, Mayor of Portland
*William Williams Chapman (1808-1892), U.S. Representative from Iowa Territory
*George Edward Cole (1826-1906), postmaster of Portland, Territorial Governor of Washington
*George Law Curry (1820-1878), Governor of Oregon Territory and U.S. Senator
*Thomas J. Dryer (1808-1879), first editor of The Oregonian
*Melvin Clark George (1849-1933), U.S. Representative
*J.C. Hawthorne, founder of Oregon Hospital for the Insane
*Harry Lane (1855-1917), Mayor of Portland, U.S. Senator
*Asa Lovejoy (1808-1882), delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention
*Earl Riley, mayor of Portland
*Henry S. Rowe, mayor of Portland
*Samuel L. Simpson, poet
*William Wallace Thayer (1827-1899), Governor of Oregon, Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
*Socrates H. Tryon, namesake for Tryon Creek State Natural Area

See also

* Anti-Chinese violence in Oregon
* Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery
* River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon)

References

External links

* [http://www.friendsoflonefircemetery.org/ Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=39055 Find-A-Grave: Lone Fir Cemetery]
* [http://www.wweek.com/html/cultfeature102500.html Willamette Week: Portland's most interesting residents don't walk the streets. At least you'd better hope they don't.]
* [http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/cc/ds1/docs/interesting_burials.pdf Interesting burials at Lone Fir]