Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries (OCHC) has awarded $62,500 in grants to 15 historic cemetery projects throughout the state. The funds will help support preservation efforts, repair work and visitor education. Individual award amounts ranged from $596-$9,452.
Funded projects:
- Marker repair and leveling at the Bonanza Memorial Park Cemetery in Klamath County.
- Monument repair and cleaning at the Zion Memorial Cemetery in Canby.
- Marker repair at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Corvallis.
- Marker repair at the Dallas Cemetery in Polk County.
- Installation of security cameras at the Fernwood Pioneer and Fernwood Friends Cemeteries in Yamhill County.
- Clean and reset headstones at the Hubbard Cemetery.
- Repair and reset four grave markers and research, design, and install an interpretive panel about the history of the people buried there, including a daughter of a woman who had been freed from slavery and arrived in Oregon in 1853 at Logtown Cemetery in Jackson County.
- Marker repair at the Lafayette Masonic Cemetery.
- Complete tree removal and trimming at the Missouri Flat Cemetery in Jackson County.
- Create and install signs at 10 cemeteries in Columbia County.
- Repair markers at Riverside Cemetery in Albany.
- Trim trees at the Scappoose Fairview Cemetery.
- Clean markers and train volunteers at Tillamook and Bay City IOOF Cemeteries in Tillamook County.
- Complete a ground penetrating radar investigation at the Weston Cemetery in Umatilla County.
Historic cemeteries are documented by OCHC and must include the burial of at least one person who died 75 years before the current date.
The historic cemetery grant program is offered annually by the OCHC, part of the Oregon Heritage Program at Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). The grant program is supported by lottery and other funds.
OCHC maintains a list of all pioneer and historic cemeteries in the state. The seven-member appointed commission helps people and organizations document, preserve and promote designated historic cemeteries statewide.
For more information about the grant program or the OCHC, visit www.oregonheritage.org or contact Kuri Gill at Kuri.gill@oregon.gov or 503-986-0685.