Board Meetings
Want to meet other volunteers and become more involved in FLFC? Come sit in on our monthly board meetings. Currently conducted via Zoom. Contact info@friendsoflonefircemetery.org for details. Fourth Thursday of the Month- January 25
- February 22
- March 28
- April 25
- May 23
- June 27
- July 25
- August 22
- September 26
- October 24
- November: No MEETING
- December : NO MEETING
Guided Historical Tours
Want to get to know the cemetery better? Take one of our monthly tours. Tours highlight Portland’s founders and regionally-known pioneers. Second Saturday of the Month:- January 13
- February 10
- March 9
- April 13
- May 11
- June 8
- July 13
- August 10
- September 14
- October 12
- November 9
- December 14
Guided Tour: Stories in Stone
“I enjoyed the Historical Tour – I’ve taken it twice! – but what about the rest of the cemetery? What is that structure? Who is this and why is their name familiar? Is this granite? What does this symbol mean?”Lone Fir is 30 acres and 25,000 (est.) burials. It’s too much for one two-hour tour. We’ve created two tours: one covers the area north of the main road, the other covers the area south.
Come join us for the North Tour and the South Tour in alternate months.
First Saturday of the month, alternating North and south tours.North Tour:
- February 3
- April 6
- June 1
- August 3
- October 5
- December 7
South Tour:
- January 6
- March 2
- May 4
- July 6
- September 7
- November 2
Women’s Tour
“Go west young man and grow up with the country.” While many men did heed this call to the western frontier seeking adventure and fortune, most women came with their families– as children, as wives and often as mothers caring for children. This tour will highlight their unique stories and their roles in the community as Portland transitioned from a rough and tumble frontier town to an early 20th century city.
As we walk through beautiful Lone Fir Cemetery, we will visit the gravesites of women whose names you may recognize as Portland’s founding families: Terwilliger, McLoughlin, Macleay, as well as lesser-known women whose contributions through civic, philanthropic, and religious organizations improved the lives of Portlanders.
After the tour you will be able to answer the following questions:
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- In her role as the first women to hold the position of City Health Officer in a major US City, who is credited with preventing an outbreak of bubonic plague by implementing an aggressive rat extermination program that included a nickel bounty on rats?
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- In the 1870s, despite discriminatory laws, who was the first black women to own her own house in Portland?
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- Who was the face of the 1908 US Supreme Court case that upheld Oregon’s law that limited women’s factory shifts to 10 hours a day?
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- Who lost her mother on the Oregon Trail only to be left a year later with her new stepmom while her father when down to the California gold rush?
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- How many generations of Oregon women actively worked on the state’s suffrage movement? (hint: it took over 40 years)
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- Who was the first women convicted of murder in the Oregon Territory?
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- What highly successful woman painter was posthumously name “The Oregon Artist” by the Oregon legislature?
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- May 25
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- June 22
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- July 27
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- August 24
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- September 28
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- October 26
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- November 23
Headstone Cleaning workshops
Meet at the Soldiers Monument at 10am for a tutorial on how to clean and spruce the headstones at Lone Fir Cemetery.
The workshop runs from 10am until noon and there is no registration needed. We provide the supplies! Gloves are handy and please dress to get dirty.
Every Third Saturday of the Month – April through September
- April 20
- May 18
- June 15
- July 20
- August 17
- September 21
Memorial Weekend Tent
May 26-27 10:00a – 3:00p Chestnut grove Cost: Free Interactive Map DetailsFor some Memorial Day is a time for reflection, to give thanks to the veterans who served our country, to visit family members and friends that have passed and for Friends of Lone Fir it is also a time to volunteer.
Tours at 10am and 12pm both days. Be sure to reserve a spot in advance.
If you are interested in volunteering please reach out to us at info@friendsoflonefircemetery. org
Tombstone Twilight
Celebrate Halloween weekend at Metro’s historic Lone Fir Cemetery in Southeast Portland! Guided tours take guests throughout the cemetery and hear the stories of those who lived and died in Portland. Come for an informal history lesson while enjoying the beauty and tranquility of Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery in SE Portland at Twilight. The tour highlights Portland’s founders, pioneers, its famous and infamous alike.
We will offer 2 tours per evening at Twilight each Saturday of October.
The dates for Tombstone Twilight will be :
- October 5
- October 12
- October 19
- October 26