
Mount Pleasant Cemetery is located in Seattle, King County, Washington. Also known as Free Methodist Cemetery and Seattle IOOF Cemetery, the earliest burials date from the 1840s through the present. The cemetery is still active.
One of Seattle's oldest burying places, and comprised of several ethnic origins, denominations, and cultures. Nils Peterson, a Queen Anne Hill homesteader, deeded 10 acres of his land to the Odd Fellows in the late 1870s to be used as a fraternal burying ground. The Free Methodist Church purchased another 10 acres under the name of the Seattle Methodist Seminary (now Seattle Pacific University) in 1882. Seattle undertakers Cross and Company purchased the remainder of the land from Peterson later in 1882. The original entry was on the north side of the property. The Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association assumed the latter two properties in 1895 and developed the cemetery in stages around the turn of the 20th century, constructing a new entry gate on the south side. At that same time, the Gibboth Olum Reform Cemetery (established by Congregation Chaveth Sholem, and now known as Hills of Eternity), the Arthur A Wright funeral home and crematory, and the Queen Anne Columbarium were established nearby. Large blocks of the Mount Pleasant real estate were purchased by the Chong Wa Chinese Benevolent Society. Seattle's black community purchased a dedicated section at the center of the cemetery. The Islamic section, with graves oriented towards Mecca, was set aside in 1979. In 1987 the cemetery, in poor condition, was sold to the Edwards family, who continue to operate the cemetery. Today the 40-acre property, legally consolidated in 1999 with that of the Odd Fellows, contains over 60,000 verified burials, several community memorials, and notable persons of local and national significance.
"Mount Pleasant Cemetery sits on the northern side of Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill. Since its opening in 1879, the graveyard has been the resting place for the victims of some of Washington’s most infamous tragedies.
There, a mass grave holds the remains of the unidentified victims from the 1906 sinking of the S.S. Valencia. The ship foundered in foul weather in the Strait of Juan de Fuca while traveling with 173 passengers from San Francisco to Victoria and Seattle.
Unable to make it to safety, the ship was battered by high winds and crashing waves. Would-be rescuers who could not reach the ship watched as the passengers drowned, succumbed to hypothermia, or were crushed as the vessel broke apart over a 36-hour period.
Only 37 men survived and every woman and child onboard died. Of the 136 dead, only 33 bodies were ever recovered. Twenty-six of the corpses remained unidentified and were buried together in the mass grave at Mount Pleasant.
The graveyard also holds the victims of a different transportation disaster that struck just four years after the Valencia sank. In 1910, a train making its way to Seattle became stranded in a blizzard. A lighting strike then triggered an avalanche on the slopes above the train, causing a cascade of snow to tumble down the mountain and take with it two train cars and the lives of 96 passengers. Mount Pleasant holds the remains of 18 of those lost souls, including six train employees who were never identified.
Sadly, these two catastrophes aren’t the only unfortunate events linked to the cemetery. During the early days of World War I, yet another tragedy befell Washington’s working class citizens. While trying to unionize dock workers, five Industrial Workers of the World members (known commonly as Wobblies) were gunned down by city officials in Everett, Washington in an event that became known as the Everett Massacre. The Wobblies were buried together during a ceremony at Mount Pleasant shortly after the violent incident.
Another Wobblie named Joe Hill, who was executed for murder in Utah and later cremated, had his ashes spread among 47 states (his remark that he wouldn’t be caught dead in Utah was apparently honored, and Alaska and Hawaii weren’t yet a part of the Union). During a ceremony on May Day 1917, his ashes were spread on the grave marking the victims of the Everett Massacre."