Hidden beneath the empty grassy field at Portland’s oldest cemetery is an often overlooked history. While the first burial took place in 1846, the cemetery was established in 1855. A co-founder of Portland is even buried there! Today it is registered as a National Historic Landmark and revered as a favorite spot for people to stroll in peace and quiet. Lone Fir, however, has an invisible history. Buried beneath the bare lot on the Southeast side of the cemetery are hundreds of Chinese immigrants and patients from a nearby asylum. Not discovered until 2004 with the remodeling of a government building, the remains are buried in unmarked graves. In 2007 the building was removed and the forgotten part of land was added back to the cemetery. Located at the site is an often overlooked plaque explaining the empty field. There are plans for a garden and memorial to be built on the site, so that this hidden history will no longer be so. .
