Lone Fir Cemetery

Is the history reflected in our parks and cemeteries the whole story?  Of course not.  But rarely is there an opportunity to go back in time and remember some of the people who have been forgotten.  The Lone Fir Cemetery Memorial project realized that opportunity in remembering the Chinese workers and the residents of Hawthorne asylum who were buried in a segregated, abandoned corner of the cemetery in the late 1800s.

This project had extraordinary outreach.  The Chinese community participated in drawings and review in Chinese and with a Feng Shui master.  The mental health community, including consumers of mental health services, weighed in on how to remember that history and there was a featured article in Street Roots.

The first phase was completed in 2008 and was funded with Metro’s 2020 natural areas bond measure. The final design and construction of the garden is now underway and is anticipated to be complete by 2025.

Key players and references:

1. •CCBA Rebecca Liu
   

2. •Mary Faulkner, Lone Fir Foundation
   

3. •Design lead Jane Hansen, Lango Hansen Landscape Architects