January 2, 2018

Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery, located at the end of West “D” Street, is one of the oldest cemeteries in the Pacific Northwest and one of the few that has remained in continuous use. Its 32 acres contain over 4,000 grave sites. The cemetery was platted in 1859 and dedicated in 1860, but there are headstones with earlier dates. Before this cemetery opened, it was common for settlers to have family graveyards on their own property. Later some chose to move loved ones to the community cemetery. Two such are Gabriel and Anderville Plymale, father and son, the earliest recorded deaths in Jacksonville. Having survived the 2,000 mile trek across the Oregon Trail, they arrived in Jacksonville in October of 1852. Gabriel died within the month from “swamp fever,” more commonly known as typhoid fever. Anderville died just three weeks after his father. There was no cemetery at the time, so they were buried at the bottom of the hill. When the cemetery opened in 1860, they were brought here to their final resting place.