ROCHE HARBOR, Wash -- Looking out across Roche Harbor it's hard to imagine that this picturesque place has a foundation in the cement industry. A massive deposit of lime ran through San Juan Island, it's a mineral that's a key ingredient in cement. A businessman named John McMillin started what became the biggest lime works in the west here in the late 1800's, and it thrived here until the lime ran out.
Even though leisure seekers long ago replaced laborers here, the McMillin family still holds vigil, in a mysterious monument hidden in the woods. Each seat contains the ashes of a family member, and the structure holds many symbols as well, according to Brent Snow, General Manager of Roche Harbor Resort.
"McMillin was a Mason, and carried a lot of the Masonic lore into his mausoleum," said Snow.
Three steps represent the three stages of mankind: Youth, middle age and old age. There's also a broken column.
"The broken column is an element that symbolizes man's unfinished work in this life and the need to finish it in the hereafter," said Snow.
A table made of limestone is a central element, and of course, there's a ghost story. Ada was a domestic servant of the McMillins. When the property changed hands in the 50's the new owners found an urn containing Ada's ashes. The ashes were eventually entombed at the McMillan mausoleum, but not under Ada's name.
"So therefore she continues to walk the halls of Roche Harbor," said Snow.
Despite the ghost story, Sunset Vista, the hill where the mausoleum sits, hardly looks haunted in the afternoon glow. But anyone who finds this place will also find some Roche Harbor history.
