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Union Cemetery—Open for Business!

Cedar Mill’s historic Union Cemetery, founded in 1858, still has plenty of space for burials.

Paul Taylor is a member of the Board of Trustees, and is the contact for people interested in purchasing a plot. He says, “I think there’s only about 60% of the area that’s occupied,” of the five-acre site, on the west side of 143rd north of Cornell.

“Occupants” include many of Cedar Mill’s pioneer families, including JQA Young and his family. In April 1858, Francis and Arvilla McGuire donated land on what is now NW 143rd, “for the use and benefit of a Burying Ground and Meeting House.” Additional land was donated in 1860, by John and Elizabeth Campbell, to build the Union School, which was located near the road. The school was demolished in 1948 when Sunset Valley Grade School (where Home Depot is now) was opened, and the Union Cemetery of Cedar Mill received title to the land.

A Board of Trustees oversees the site. Volunteers devote their time to keep the cemetery a beautiful place of rest. It is an endowment-care cemetery, where lots are sold under the representation that the cemetery and lots will receive perpetual maintenance and oversight. This “endowed care” is provided free of further cost to the purchaser after payment of the original purchase price for a lot or burial space.

Plots are available for $900, and each plot can accommodate two burials. An additional “burial fee” of $200 per burial is collected when the plot is needed. Private funeral service companies manage the physical details of the burials; Taylor can recommend companies that have worked with them in the past.

To find out more, contact Paul Taylor at 503-515-2255, or taylord4him@comcast.net.

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