THE C L A C K A M A S P R IN T
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OCT. 29, 2 0 1 4
Photo contributed by Coral Tilton
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tom b
stones
The Lone Fir Cemetery on SE Stark and 26th is Portlands first official cemetery.
any students are scram-
bling to buy fake blood,
stock up on candy and
figure out the best parties
BH I
■ B H I to attend this Halloween.
Alternatively, if you prefer a more subtle brand of
spooky, you’re in luck: Robert Keeler, anthropologist
and Clackamas Community College professor, is a
member of the Association for Gravestone Studies
and he was happy to talk about the history of Port
land’s gravesites.
I
Imagine busy, bustling Portland in the 1800s, before
it was a city: no official government, no fire depart
ment and no place to lay the dearly departed.
What were they to do if someone died? When some
one did pass in 1846, the townspeople decided to lay
the body on the property of Benjamin Stark, an orig
inal westside land owner who was conveniently out
of town for more than a decade.
People continued to bury bodies there until Stark
returned and declared he was going to develop his
land. This is where Kell’s Irish Pub, Dan and Louis
Oyster Bar and Skidmore Fountains lie today.
ft
by Britt Tiitan
“Most Portlanders have no idea that was a cemetery Portland soon decided to put bodies in Lone Fir
area,” Keeler said. “This is not a widely known fact. Cemetery. Access was difficult at the time because
It doesn’t show up on any early maps, it’s strictly townspeople had to cross the river on a ferry, trans
through city government records and newspapers of port everything on a wagon and walk a mile up a dirt
road. But it was flat and it drained better than the
the time.”
land with springs. This became Portland’s first offi
cial cemetery.
Keeler believes that historic cemeteries are vital parts
of our community.
Our relationship with gravesites is changing. In the
past, cemeteries have been somewhat abandoned.
“They are important to preserve, important to study,
Now cemeteries are becoming community spaces
important for people to know about. They are obvi
where people picnic, jog and bike ride.
ously a place to bury the dead and commemorate the
dead, commemorate people in the community, but
they are also places for spiritual reflection,” he said.
Many cemeteries also offer events on Halloween
night, including Lone Fir Cemetery. “Volunteers
dress up like different people who are buried at the
In 1851, Portland officially became a city. It had al
cemetery. The tour leads guests around and they stop
most everything a city needed, except a cemetery.
at each headstone, they talk about who they are and
Keeler said, “It took several years of discussion, sort
how they died,” said Noel Seats, Metro Cemeteries
of bewailing the fact that this unplanned cemetery
coordinator.
was an eye sore, a health threat and somebody else’s
land that had just been appropriated.”
Several people offered to sell land, but Portland just
couldn’t afford burial ground. Land on a hillside
with springs was donated and used temporarily, but
it wasn’t ideal.
Looking for last minute Halloween plans?
Tours at Lone Fir depart every eight minutes from 5
p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 31. Tickets are $15 general, $5
for youth and seniors. More info at the Friends of Lone
Fir Cemetery website.