This small Beacon Hill pioneer cemetery sits atop Duwamish ancestral burial ground; in 1987 Seattle bulldozed grave markers to trench a sewer line, leaving burials in place beneath later development.
2200 South Graham Street, Seattle, WA 98108
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access; please respect remaining grave markers and the ancestral significance of the site.
Access
Limited Access
Small grassy lot with surviving 19th-century grave markers; uneven ground around remaining stones.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1880 · Duwamish ancestral burial site predating Euro-American settlement · First documented pioneer burial 1880 (Samuel Maple) · Comet Lodge No. 139 IOOF affiliation from 1895 · Approximately 500 recorded burials 1880-1936 · November 1987 Seattle bulldozed grave markers to trench a sewer line
Comet Lodge Cemetery occupies a small parcel on Beacon Hill in south Seattle that has a long history as sacred ground. The site was used for ancestral burials by the Duwamish people prior to Euro-American settlement of the area, a fact documented in both the Rainier Valley Historical Society's research and Wikipedia.
The first documented Euro-American burial at the site was that of 53-year-old pioneer Samuel Maple (the gravestone spells the surname 'Mapel'), who died in 1880. The Maple family had settled in the surrounding area, and the cemetery served the Beacon Hill and Georgetown neighborhoods for decades. Burials continued sporadically through 1884 and then more regularly, with approximately 500 recorded burials taking place between 1880 and 1936.
The cemetery did not formally take the name 'Comet Lodge' until 1895, when Comet Lodge No. 139 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) acquired the property. Through the early 20th century the IOOF maintained the cemetery, but by the 1940s through the 1970s King County, which then held responsibility, operated as a 'pretty hands-off landlord' (per Seattle Times). Tombstones deteriorated, and parts of the grounds were lost to encroaching development.
In 1986 the City of Seattle rezoned much of the cemetery's surrounding land from cemetery to residential and retail use. On November 2, 1987 — All Souls Day — Seattle bulldozed grave markers to trench a sewer line, despite a 1954 statement from King County that the land 'includes the graves or remains of deceased persons buried therein.' Houses and a dog park were subsequently built on portions of the original cemetery. Only a handful of surface grave markers remain visible today; the burials themselves have not been exhumed and remain in place beneath the surface.
The site is acknowledged today as historically and culturally significant. The Rainier Valley Historical Society, the South Seattle Emerald, and the Seattle Times have published multiple long-form features on the cemetery's history and the events of 1987. The Duwamish Tribe continues to be consulted on questions about the site.
Sources
Comet Lodge's paranormal reputation grew directly out of the documented 1987 disturbance. Houses built atop the disturbed portions of the cemetery — and the dog park that occupies another section of original burial ground — became, in the years that followed, the subject of resident accounts collected in regional press, the South Seattle Emerald, and University of Washington student journalism.
Residents quoted in these accounts describe flickering lights, disembodied voices, and full-body apparitions inside homes built atop the cemetery. The Seattle Times' Pacific NW Magazine feature documents named residents discussing nightly creaks, doors opening on their own, and unease that they explicitly connect to knowing the houses sit on burial ground. The South Seattle Emerald's 2023 'A Changing of Worlds' feature — written with explicit cultural-respect framing — described the cemetery as 'liminal space' and gathered multiple firsthand accounts.
Visitors to the surviving open portion of the cemetery report cold spots, sudden equipment failures (dead cell-phone batteries, cameras that won't focus), and a sense of being watched. The dog park section, in particular, has been the subject of resident reports about dogs that refuse to enter certain areas of the open space.
Sensitivity framing: Comet Lodge sits on Duwamish ancestral burial ground that was twice disturbed — first by Euro-American settlement and second by the 1987 sewer-trench bulldozing. HauntBound does not frame this site in 'ancient curse' or 'angry spirit' tropes. The historical record describes a community whose ancestors were not given the respect afforded to most American burying grounds, and the reported phenomena are presented in that context. We recommend a quiet, respectful visit during daylight hours. The Duwamish Tribe's ongoing advocacy for the site is the appropriate cultural frame.
Notable Entities
Walk the small surviving cemetery lot on Beacon Hill, read the remaining 19th-century grave markers (including the Maple family), and reflect on the layered history of Duwamish ancestral ground and pioneer-era burials.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Seattle, WA
Lake View Cemetery was founded in 1872 as the Seattle Masonic Cemetery — the city's primary burying ground after the 1860 closure of Seattle's first downtown cemetery. The 40-acre, privately operated, nonprofit cemetery on Capitol Hill contains approximately 40,000 graves, including those of the Denny party, Doc Maynard, Henry Yesler, Princess Angeline, and Bruce and Brandon Lee.
Spokane, WA
Founded in 1888 as Greenwood Cemetery, the 85-acre burial ground is Spokane's oldest active public cemetery and contains the graves of many early Spokane pioneers across three terraced levels. The Elks staircase (60 steps, popularly called '1,000 Steps') was built in the 1890s when the Elks Lodge purchased a section for member burials. A Great Northern Railroad tunnel ran beneath the cemetery from 1910 to circa 1970.
Ritzville, WA
Griffith Pioneer Cemetery sits about 8.5 miles north of Ritzville on Marcellus Road in Adams County, Washington. William C. Griffith gave two acres for the community cemetery in 1890; the Griffith family had come from Canada to homestead and farm nearby in the late 19th century. The cemetery's records include many early settler burials and several children, reflecting the high infant mortality of frontier life.