They were paved over and forgotten for decades. Now a cemetery garden will honor Chinese workers buried in SE Portland
Today 7:00 AM
On a Sunday afternoon, the Lone Fir Cemetery is serene. A handful of people stroll along the black asphalt paths that divide blocks of burial land. A man sitting beneath a towering red cedar leans back against the thick trunk, headphones on. Fresh roses blanket recent gravestones.
But the southwest corner has no trees, nor gravestones or roses. The land was known as the Old Chinese Burial Ground — now Block 14 — and was used to temporarily bury early Chinese immigrant workers until their remains could be sent to their hometowns.