Honoring untold stories at Lone Fir Cemetery

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Metro is creating a cultural heritage and healing garden on ground that was once the Chinese section of the historic cemetery.

A view of the grassy field in Lone Fir Cemetery known as Block 14. Large, mature deciduous trees are in the distance and cast long shadows on the grass under a clear blue sky.

A stone marker with the words "Block 14" engraved in black letters stands on a grassy field with wildflowers in the foreground and an oxidized chain hanging from above

Black-and-white historic photo from 1961 showing the Morrison Building that was constructed on Block 14 in the 1950s and eventually removed.

Black-and-white historic photo of a memorial marker in the area of Lone Fir Cemetery known as Block 14.

Metro is working with community members to create a memorial to honor untold stories at the historic Lone Fir Cemetery in Southeast Portland. Over the next year, there will be opportunities to provide input to help shape the memorial.

Lone Fir Cemetery has long been known as the final resting place of many prominent individuals from Portland’s history – people with names like Lovejoy, Hawthorne, Pittock, and Dekum that still grace streets and landmarks today. However, the cemetery also holds the stories of others whose contributions to Portland history have been erased from most history books.

More than 2,800 Chinese and Chinese American people were buried in Lone Fir Cemetery between the 1860s and the 1920s, and while many were exhumed and returned to China in accordance with their cultural practices, some of their bodies remain in the cemetery in unmarked graves.

Records show that 183 patients of the Oregon Hospital for the Insane, the state’s first psychiatric hospital, were laid to rest in various areas of Lone Fir Cemetery – some in unmarked graves – during the late 1800s.

Metro is now in the process of developing a memorial that honors these unrecognized stories. It is planned for an area at the southwest corner of the cemetery, labeled “Block 14” on cemetery maps. Block 14 served as the Chinese section of Lone Fir during the 1800s and early 20th century. In the 1950s it was paved over to build an office space for Multnomah County. That building has been torn down and the land has been reincorporated into the cemetery.

The memorial will be shaped by input from the community and funded through the voter-approved 2019 parks and nature bond. The memorial is expected to be completed by Summer 2026.