Last Sunday I went to visit the Tacoma Mausoleum. The hours listed were until 5, but it was closed at 4. It While it was locked, there was a window broken out (darn vandals), so I carefully aimed my camera through the opening. The sign inside the building states that the first unit was constructed in 1910, the second in 1917 and the third in 1925.
Their website is here.
I find the arrangement of the Roslyn Cemetery to be fascinating. It is actually 26 different cemeteries that reflected the town’s citizens in the late 1880s. The cemeteries include: Memorial Gardens, New City Cemetery, Lithuanian, Dr. Starcevich (Croatian), Veterans, Moose Lodge, Eagles, Selvio Pellico (Italian), Red Men Lodge, I.O.O.F. Lodge, Slovak, New Knights of Pythias, Old Knights of Pythias, Foresters, Mr. Olivet (African American) Old City Cemetery, Foresters, Druids (Italian), Cacciatori DAfrica (Italian), Serbian, Sokol Lodge (Croatian) and St. Thomas Masonic. Each of the 26 cemeteries has a slightly different look to it. Pictured above is the Veteran’s Cemetery. Some of those buried in these various cemeteries were coal miners who lost their lives through accidents in the mines. One of the photos below (with the swan) commemorates four young firefighters who lost their lives in 2001 fighting the Thirtymile Fire. More information about the cemetery and Roslyn can be found here.
The Old Settler’s Cemetery is located at the Northeast corner of Washington Boulevard SW and 83rd Avenue SW in Lakewood. The almost 5 acres site is partially tree covered with paths leading through the graves. A variety of headstones are there including those flush with the ground, old marble, new marble and wooden. It appears that several of the grave sites are no longer marked. Burials began at the site in 1855 for pioneers and their descendents.
The first headstone I came to belong to Hugh McLeod who died on July 3, 1891 at age 60. His stone stated that he was a native of Scotland. The most recent burial that I’m aware of was in 1988.
I noticed a bunch of crocuses in bloom all over the site. The explanation for this can be found here “Another settler of note is James Holt, who came from South Wales and settled in what is now Lake City in 1915. He built many of the houses in Lake City as well as donated the land used for the Lake City Community Church. His daughter Janette is credited for planting the crocus bulbs on his grave that still bloom each year.” Information can also be found here
I was in my 20s when I read Stephen King’s Pet Cemetery and it scared me to death! Though I did better then my husband who tossed it across the room and refused to pick it up for about a month. So in my head Pet Cemetery’s are creepy places, appropriate for a Halloween New Place of the Day. But all in all the Pet Cemetery in the New Tacoma Cemetery is lovely and peaceful. With umbrella in hand I walked through what I guess was the pet section, though I couldn’t find more then one grave. The photo with the graves is the traditional cemetery. The link for the cemetery is here http://www.newtacoma.com/fh/facilities/facilities.cfm?page=4&fh_id=12090
The old Acton Cemetery was founded in 1855 and has the graves of Davy Crocket’s wife, son and daughter in law. The grouping of the Crocket graves and associated statue are the smallest state park in Texas. The statue was erected in 1911 to honor all Texas pioneer mothers. The Church of the Good Shepard is located at the edge of the cemetery.
The students and staff of Clover Park High School in Lakewood, WA have created a reproduction of Arlington National Cemetery this Memorial Day weekend, as they have in other years. The photo above is actually from last year when I had my better camera on hand.
Each of the white stakes represents a service member who died in Iraq or Afghanistan, so there is a stunningly clear visual of the loss of life because of these wars. The short video from a past year sums up the project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E936AoYq6rc
In honor of Halloween, we visited the Tribal Cemetery at 2002 East 28th Street, Tacoma, adjacent to the Emerald Queen Casino. We didn’t stay long, as dusk was approaching and we didn’t want the gate to lock behind us, but there is so much history there that I would like to go back. The entryway says Tribal Cemetery, but it is also known as Old Puyallup Indian Cemetery, Cushman Indian Cemetery, Puyallup Indian Cemetery and the Puyallup Tribal Cemetery. The best source of information was found on this website http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=223067
The cemetery’s land was formally set aside in 1894, but there are report of the site being used for burial for hundreds of years prior. The cemetery use to be next to the Cushman Indian Hospital, which I remember seeing on the hill. During the 1920s through the 1940s, the hospital tended to many cases of tuberculous and some of those who did not survive the illness are located here, often without their names being known. The cemetery is still in use.
Chief Leschi who died in 1858 is buried here. I hadn’t realized that he was hanged in Lakewood, WA for murder. In 2004, both houses of the Washington state legislature passed resolutions stating that Leschi was wrongly convicted and executed and the state supreme court vacated Leschi’s conviction.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5861425
There is a small church located in the cemetery.
In honor of Halloween, we went to the Tacoma Cemetery, but found that it isn’t at all scary, but instead is lovely and peaceful. Some of the trees, like the Japanese Maple in the photo, are amazingly beautiful and the place is well tended. Their website says the cemetery was founded in 1874 and that many famous people from Tacoma are buried there. The cemetery is located at 4801 South Tacoma Way.
http://www.newtacoma.com/index.cfm
One of the people buried at Tacoma Cemetery is Ernest Lister, who served on the Tacoma City Council and was the 8th govenor of Washington State. Lister Elementary School in Tacoma is named after Ernest Lister and his brother Alfred Lister. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6882659