Sunset at GAR Cemetery Park |
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Year established | 1895 |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| Number of graves | 526 |
| Website | GAR Cemetery from the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation website |
The Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery on Seattle, Washington's Capitol Hill is a cemetery situated just north of Lake View Cemetery on the hill's northern slope, on E. Howe Street between 12th and Everett Avenues E.
It was established in 1895 by Seattle's five Grand Army of the Republic posts (Stevens Post #1, Miller Post #31, Cushing Post #56, Saxton Post #103, and Green Lake #112) on land donated by Huldah and David Kaufman, two of the first Jews in Seattle, having arrived there in 1869. The cemetery was maintained by the G.A.R. posts until 1922, at which point the property exclusive of the 526 gravesites was transferred to the city of Seattle, the gravesites were transferred to the Stevens Post, and the neighboring Lake View Cemetery was hired to maintain the grounds.
The cemetery went into decline over the following decades, however, because of confusion over land title, the failure in 1939 to secure a WPA project, the imposition during World War II of the Coast Artillery on the grounds, and so on. In 1960 an attempt was made to transfer maintenance to the Veterans Administration, either in place or by moving the graves to Fort Lawton in Magnolia, now Discovery Park, but the VA was unable to spend money on cemeteries owned by others, and the graves were never moved. The land surrounding the graves came under the jurisdiction of Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation.
In 1996, the parks department proposed that the park become an off-leash dog-run; in response to this, the Friends of the GAR Cemetery Park was formed the next year. They now staff monthly work parties, are involved in headstone replacement, and perform daily flag raising.