Mt Pleasant Cemetery AKA Free Methodist & Seattle IOOF
700 West Raye Street
Seattle, King County, Washington 98119
206-577-7910
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, located on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, was started in 1879. The earliest burials date from the late 1870s when the Odd Fellows established a cemetery on 10 acres that they later purchased from Nils Peterson. The Free Methodist Church purchased 10 acres for a cemetery in 1882 and Seattle undertakers Cross & Co. acquired the rest of the land from Peterson about the same year. In 1890, The Congregation Chaveth Sholem established Seattle's first Jewish cemetery there.
In 1895, James W. Clise (1855-1938), banker and real estate investor, organized the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Company and acquired the land from Cross. Other churches and ethnic groups purchased portions of the cemetery including the Chinese Chong Wa Benevolent Society. In 1929, Mt Pleasant sold part of the land to Temple de Hirsch for the Hills of Eternity Jewish Cemetery. In 1957, Charles Clise sold Mount Pleasant Cemetery, in a very run-down condition, to Neil Edwards (1908- 1986). He improved the cemetery, planting and caring for flowering shrubs, trees, and lawns. His son, Bill Edwards, operates the cemetery today (1999).
