SEATTLE — At Lake View Cemetery the people who rest here and the trees that grow here tell stories of Seattle's past.
"So there's a lot of really interesting, important people to local history that are buried at Lake View,” said Cynthia Brothers, founder of Vanishing Seattle, a non-profit devoted to keeping the city’s past alive.
"Some of Seattle's oldest planted trees happen to be in the cemetery,” added Taha Ebrahimi, author of "Street Trees of Seattle: An Illustrated Walking Guide."
In October, these friends team up to lead a one-of-a-kind walking tour here – The Lake View Cemetery Halloween and Tree Walk.
"We'll tell a couple of spooky stories, but mostly this is for the curious,” Ebrahimi said.
“And it just felt like a like a natural collaboration, you know, like old businesses, old notable figures in Seattle and the old trees,” Brothers said.
Even though this is the final resting place of the Dennys and the Borens - folks who founded Seattle, and movie stars Bruce and Brandon Lee — famous graves are not the focus.
"I think we also wanted to focus on some of the lesser-known history and people of Seattle,” Brothers said.
Like the Seattle shipping magnate who helped bring Japanese Maples to America. His monument sits in the shade of a massive Japanese
"This is likely the largest Japanese Maple tree in Seattle. It was planted here at the grave of Matahiro Tsukuno,” said Ebrahimi. “All of the Japanese Maples that came to America came via that shipping company, it’s absolutely amazing.”
Another stop on the tour – a Seattle businesswoman who passed in 1873 and still gets tributes left on her stone today: a $2 bill and a purple carnation.
"So, here's the grave of Mary Ann Conklin, also known as Madame Damnable or Mother Damnable, who ran the first brothel in Seattle.” There’s a very spooky story about the madam’s remains, you’ll have to take the tour to learn it.
Some of the markers here look like trees - tree stones mark the final resting places of Woodmen of the World – members of a fraternal organization.
Both the dates on the stones and the size of the trees in Lake View Cemetery are reminders that time is relentless.
And exploring this place where loved ones rest eternally and trees have grown for more than a century is a way to connect with local history, and maybe, a little bit of mystery too.
The Vanishing Seattle Lakeview Cemetery and Tree Walk takes place Oct. 20th and 27th, but more dates may be added.
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