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johanmathiesen's comments:

on Cemetery Life

Ficurinia posted her note seconds before mine, or I would have noted our different interpretation of levels of care of these small cemeteries. The one at Oysterville is very special and warrants a drive up the peninsula just to see it. You can see that at DeadManTalking, too (http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadmantalking/). Check out Chief Nahcati's grave (can't miss it), but especially the sublime natural stone for William Bailey.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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on Cemetery Life

Ficurinia posted her note seconds before mine, or I would have noted our different interpretation of levels of care of these small cemeteries. The one at Oysterville is very special and warrants a drive up the peninsula just to see it. You can see that at DeadManTalking, too (http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadmantalking/). Check out Chief Nahcati's grave (can't miss it), but especially the sublime natural stone for William Bailey.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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on Cemetery Life

First of all, go to Flickr.com and check out my site at DeadManTalking (http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadmantalking/) where you'll find some 10,000 photos from better than 600 cemeteries, mostly from Oregon and western Washington. It's the largest collection of cemetery photos anywhere. It's organized by regions and alphabetically within regions. You can take a virtual tour of all those cemeteries, most of which are small pioneer cemeteries.

As to the cemeteries represented by the guests, both Jacksonville and Lone Fir are among the finest in the state, and Bridal Veil is sweet and will, hopefully, pick up, if the post office moves next door.

The list of interesting historic cemeteries in the state is long, but I'd start with the incomparable Camp Polk Cemetery outside Sisters (definitely look it up at DeadManTalking). It's a free-for-all on an island hilltop surrounded by a sea of grass. It's rife with homemade markers, fire-pits, crude benches, old stones, delicately landscaped plots, and more howling coyotes than I care to remember. It's large, lively, covered with scrub trees, and certainly merits a picnic lunch. Bring a beer.

The Coast has a bunch of interesting cemeteries, but I'd have to recommend the one at Taft for the sheer spectacular nature of its site with long, dramatic views of the the beach from high on the cliffs; not to mention a fine collection of homemade markers, plus a couple oversize ones that look like they were imported from Portugal, or wherever, and command a superb prospect over the Pacific.

Eugene's Masonic Cemetery, which doubles as a wildlife refuge and historical museum, is a model of how to rethink and reuse an historic cemetery. It's a cemetery where the more you look, the more you see. And if you're down that way, Pleasant Hill is a great folk cemetery and Creswell is surprisingly charming.

In this end of the valley both the Yamhill cemeteries are special as is Buck Hollow outside Willamina and Adams on Dickie Prairie back of Mollala. Metro's own Mountain View Corbett is a delight in fine weather, and I don't even know if I should mention the hidden Jones Cemetery.

Nor should I probably mention the Native-American cemeteries, for, although they are among the most interesting in the state, the tribes can be sensitive about non-tribal visitors.

As far as I can tell, the small cemeteries around the state are almost all in a state of renewal. Cemetery levies seem to always pass, and there's a lot of activity going on. (You'll find, by the way, that each cemetery at DeadManTalking is geo-tagged; so you can pinpoint its location exactly, should you be interested in making a live visit.)

Come visit "http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadmantalking/". It never stops growing.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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