Historic Columbian Cemetery

North De La Salle Catholic High School, May 2013

Elizabeth — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:39:25 +0000

Thank you so much to all the students who helped prepare the cemetery for Memorial Day visitors!

We encourage all other community members to continue the good work by joining us the weekend of May 18th and 19th. Much remains to be done!

Spring Work Party

Elizabeth — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:30:18 +0000

Please join us on May 18th and 19th for a cemetery work party. Arrow Sanitation has donated a yard box and Metro has provided a disposal voucher. It will be the first occasion of use for the new utility gate funded through a Portland Development Commission grant.

We hope to have the cemetery in a state worthy of a Memorial Day visitors as well as those interred.

The Boy Scouts will also be placing flags on May 26th!

Happy New Year!

Elizabeth — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:22:33 +0000

The Historic Columbian Cemetery board and volunteers wish all of you a wonderful New Year! Thank you to all the supporters of the cemetery.

In the past year, much has occurred on the cemetery grounds and behind the scenes. Most recently, the work on the fence and trees has been completed, though the cemetery archway will not be replaced for another few weeks.

In coming weeks, regular security will begin to lock and unlock the cemetery each morning and evening. All entries will be locked, so please contact us if you require special permission and access.

Please review our newsletter for 2012.

Veteran’s Day

Elizabeth — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:14:47 +0000

The Boy Scouts will be holding a work party on November 11th in honor of Veteran’s Day. Thank you so much!

Oregon Heritage Grant, 2012

Elizabeth — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 23:14:24 +0000

Thanks to a generous award from the Oregon Historic Cemetery Grant program, HCC will be thinning, bracing, and removing trees most at risk. This funding will help ensure the survival of a large elm and beautiful maple. In addition two non-viable trees will be removed for safety and one large limb extending over Columbia Boulevard will be cut back as well.

Work is scheduled to begin August 14th, 2012 and will necessitate the removal of the cemetery archway for a few months.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

Update 8/16: Work has begun!

Contact HCC

Elizabeth — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:02:00 +0000

We would love to hear from members, families, and friends of the Historic Columbian Cemetery.

Contact Information:

info@savecolumbiancemetery.org

Further contact information can be found here.

PDC Grant, 2012

Elizabeth — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 18:23:25 +0000

Great News! Many of you have noticed the gap in the front fencing left after a hit and run accident a few years ago. HCC has been awarded funding to repair the front fence and install a utility gate for cemetery work parties. Thank you so much to the Portland Development Commission! The work will be completed by West Meyer Fence, the company that originally installed the fence, in late summer or early fall.

Thank You!

Elizabeth — Sat, 26 May 2012 22:30:09 +0000

Memorial Day Cleanup and Flag Placing!

Thanks to Boy Scout Troop #71 and Girl Scout Troop #45497 for helping prepare the grounds for Memorial Day visitors.

People of Columbian

Elizabeth — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 04:12:46 +0000

As the HCC Board works to collect all cemetery records, the families and friends of those resting at the Historic Columbian Cemetery are encouraged to contact us via info@savecolumbiancemetery.org. We welcome your stories and details of those buried at HCC. In addition, the Board is collecting information for a contact list that will be used for notification of meetings and other cemetery events.

Historic Columbian Cemetery

Elizabeth — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:12:44 +0000

The Historic Columbian Cemetery is part and parcel of the North Portland community: an essential point where the twain—life and death—meet. The earliest monument, raised to Captain Lewis Love’s son-in-law, stands half-hidden amid rows of hedges planted to commemorate infants lost in another age. Captain Love had wanted only Oregon Pioneers to be buried in his graveyard, but practicalities of life and the railroad undermined his singular vision. Trains penetrated the West and continue to roll by the cemetery even today, cutting across the lives that fill the Historic Columbian Cemetery. Beyond Captain Love, the cemetery is the burial place of other early Portland figures. James John is acknowledged as the father of St. Johns, and John Mock is the namesake of Mock’s Crest. Love, Mock, and John came to Oregon as pioneers and authored incredible stories through life. In an era when African-Americans were banned from Oregon, Daniel Drew entered the state. Daniel Drew was born a slave and freed by Union troops in Virginia, in turn becoming a soldier in the 56^th Colored Regiment. Following the war, Mr. Drew came west after becoming a Quaker Minister. He shares his final resting place with other citizens essential to the formation of North Portland: masons, loggers, physicians, attorneys, railway workers, and Native Americans. The rumble and whistle of the railway have been joined by the hum and horns of highway traffic, and still, Captain Love and his wife rest alone in their private graveyard while all around them prosperity and hope continue on in the blooms of Heritage Roses, the magnificence of the elm, and the memory of lives well-lived.