Washelli Cemetery

Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park originated in 1885. It is located on both sides of Aurora Avenue in Seattle, Washington, and occupies roughly 144 acres (58 ha). It is the largest cemetery in Seattle.

At the time of its inception, the area was known as Oak Lake, a full day's carriage ride from downtown via Ballard, Seattle, Washington. David Denny owned land by the lake, and when the old Seattle Cemetery was to become Denny Park he moved the remains of his infant son from there to his property at Oak Lake.

In 1887, David Denny’s cousin Henry Levi Denny moved his family's plot from Capitol Hill to the new burial ground, and over time the number of burials increased, usually by family members and associates of the Denny Party.

In 1903, the property, known as Oaklake Cemetery, was inherited by David's son, Victor Denny. Victor sold the property in 1914 to the American Necropolis Association, a St. Louis-based company that owned cemetery properties in several states. The ANA gave the cemetery the name "Washelli" (a Makah word meaning "westerly wind"), which had been the name of a central Seattle cemetery disestablished in 1887. In 1919, the Evergreen Cemetery Company started a competing cemetery on the western side of Aurora Avenue, directly opposite Washelli Cemetery. In 1922, Evergreen Cemetery purchased Washelli from the ANA, although the merger did not become final until 1928. By 1952, Evergreen had taken over the mausolea, crematory and columbarium. The cemetery changed its name to Evergreen Washelli in 1962.

The Evergreen Washelli cemetery was started as an "endowment care" cemetery, therefore a portion of the cost of a grave is designated into a trust fund for maintenance of the grounds. This allows for a cemetery to remain as a perpetual landmark. The Evergreen Washelli funeral home was started in 1972 in response to public demand. It quickly outgrew its offices on the eastern side of Washelli, and in 1994, moved into larger premises on the Evergreen side of the property, west of Aurora Avenue. Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park consists of the Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery, Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home, Crematory, and Cemetery, Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Bothell Funeral Home, and Abbey View Cemetery in Brier, Washington.

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