Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State - Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Seattle

Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Seattle

1200 East Howe St.
Seattle, King County, Washington 98102
206-684-4075

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 East Howe Street between 12th and Everett Avenues East.

A consortium of 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 – established the cemetery in 1895 on land donated by Huldah and David Kaufman, two of the city's earliest Jewish settlers, who arrived in 1869. The G.A.R. posts maintained the cemetery until 1922, when they gave the property, excluding of the 526 gravesites, to the city of Seattle. The association deeded the gravesites to the Stevens Post who hired neighboring Lake View Cemetery to maintain the grounds.

The cemetery fell into decline over the following decades, because of confusion over land title, the failure in 1939 to secure WPA project, the imposition during World War II of the Coast Artillery on the grounds, and so on. In 1960, the city attempted to transfer maintenance to the Veterans Administration, either in situ or by moving the graves to Fort Lawton in Magnolia, now Discovery Park, but the VA was unable to allocate money on cemeteries it did not own, 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 formed the next year. Members of the group now staff monthly work parties, are involved in headstone replacement, and perform daily flag raising.

The cemetery holds the remains of Medal of Honor recipient Frank Bois (1841–1920), who was honored for heroism while aboard the USS Cincinnati during the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi 

In about 1895, five Grand Army Posts in Seattle established this cemetery for the Civil War heroes of 1861-65. In 1922, Seattle city council turned the care and maintenance of the cemetery over to Seattle Parks Department. The volunteer group Friends of the GAR have been active in caring for the cemetery. The Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery is located in the north of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. 526 graves and a monument memorialize veterans of the Civil War. A small green space lies adjacent to the memorial site. 

There are over 650 Union veterans buried in the Seattle, G.A.R. Cemetery. In early 2020, an Island County, WA teacher expressed interest in beginning a long-term project in which middle school students would create birth - to - death biographical profiles on those vets. 

 In this vein, a number of veterans were chosen to become the initial focus  of this exercise. The Covid 19 medical pandemic, however, has resulted in this project being placed on hold. It is hoped that at some point in the future, students, or others will be able to complete biographies on some or  all of these veterans. 


Veterans Buried at Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Seattle

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