Part I: From the beginning to 1931 Maybe it was the greed or a
need to sweep political embarrassment under the proverbial rug.
Perhaps it’s simply an old Indian curse on those foolish enough
to disturb a sacred burial site. Whatever the reason, this
cemetery has suffered a century’s worth of indignities including
abandonment, foreclosure, bulldozing, and housing development.
And what began as a five acre cemetery plot, now remains a mere
2.3 acre knoll languishing between a multitude of single family
homes. It’s a story almost too strange to be true. Comet Lodge
Cemetery was a Duwamish Indian burial site long before actual
land ownership passed to the International Order of Odd Fellows
in 1895. Offering fine hilltop views of south Seattle, it seemed
a pleasant resting place for those early settlers such as Emma
Rigby, one of area’s first female doctors. But peace reigned for
only twelve years. In 1905, a booming population, plus a need
for more residential housing tract land, caused the City of
Seattle to mov