The Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery is a pioneer cemetery in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. It is located at the west end of the city along the Tualatin Valley Highway and adjacent to Dairy Creek. The cemetery comprises three formerly private cemeteries. In 1973, the city of Hillsboro gained title to what is the oldest cemetery in Washington County.Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery Inscriptions. Cemeteries. Retrieved on February 29, 2008.

History The cemetery is situated on what was previously part of the David Hill land claim that was recorded on July 4, 1847.Byrd, Dean H., Stanley R. Clarke, and Janice M. Healy. 2001. Oregon Burial Site Guide. Portland, Or: Binford & Mort Pub. Hill died in 1850, and in 1860 the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) established a cemetery on the current site. The IOOF portion of the cemetery was to the east of the Masons' part.Historic names mark old gravestones. Hillsboro Argus, October 19, 1976. Around 1915 another section owned by IOOF was added west of the Masons' section. On August 7, 1973, the city of Hillsboro received the deeds to the cemeteries and took over maintenance and operations.

In 1995, 155 grave sites were vandalized, causing over $75,000 in damage. The city made improvements in 2012 with the addition of an arched, wrought-iron entry and information kiosk. Paid for in part by a state grant, the project cost $13,000 to complete. In 2014, the city completed a master plan to make $1.7 million in improvements, including sidewalks, parking, and fencing.

Details Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery is an irreducible fund cemetery organized under Oregon Revised Statutes 65.860 where all funds received go into a fund that is not reduced and only interest is used for maintenance.Irreducible Fund Cemeteries. Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities. Retrieved on February 29, 2008.List of IR Cemeteries. Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities. Retrieved on February 29, 2008. Hillsboro's city recorder manages all records of the facility.City Recorder. City of Hillsboro. Retrieved on February 29, 2008. The Hillsboro Historical Society holds a semi-annual event at the cemetery that includes re-enactments by actors demonstrating the lives of some of those buried at the cemetery.Homepage. Hillsboro Historical Society. Retrieved on June 19, 2007.

Notable burials

William N. Barrett (1855-1916), state legislator and Hillsboro mayor. Rodolph Crandall (1832-1922), Hillsboro mayor and county judge John Smith Griffin (1807-1899), missionary and Champoeg Meetings participant. William D. Hare (1834-1910), state legislator and Hillsboro mayor. David Hill (1809-1850), legislator in the provisional government. Fern Hobbs (1883-1964), secretary to Oregon Governor Oswald West and involved in incident in Copperfield. John W. Shute (1840-1922), banker and namesake for Shute Park Thomas Tongue (1912-1994), Oregon Supreme Court justice. Thomas H. Tongue (1844-1903), Congressman, state legislator, and Hillsboro mayor. Albert E. Tozier (1860-1937), journalist and historian.Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery Inscriptions, S - T. Cemeteries. Retrieved on February 29, 2008. Charles T. Tozier (1832-1899), mayor and state legislator William H. Wehrung (1861-1934), state legislator and city councilor Mary Ramsey Wood (1787-1908), "First Mother Queen of Oregon Pioneers"

See also List of cemeteries in Oregon

References

External links

List of burials from the City Find A Grave: Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery