The small graveyard at Mabel Oregon contains the graves of two Japanese men. These may be some of the oldest graves of Asians in Lane County. The graveyard was originally built by the Church of the Brethren. The church is now in Springfield and the graveyard now cared for by the local families and community volunteers. The cemetery is across the road from the site of the old Coast Range Lumber Company and the site of the Japanese colony.
A woman in Marcola told me of the graves and that they were unmarked. Most rural cemeteries have a number of unmarked graves. Often the original headstones were made of wood which weathers away over the years. The two markers simply say "Unknown Japanese" and give approximate dates of death as between 1915-1926, the years Japanese were known to have lived in the area.
Above photo shows the entrance to the Mabel Cemetery
Grave Markers Places August 20, 2003
Grave Markers in the foreground, note rounded shape of grave.
http://www.efn.org/~opal/coastrange.htm
Email Stephen Williamson stevew@oregon.uoregon.edu or phone (541) 746-9625
Ping Yang on the Mohawk
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all material on this website, except where noted is copyrighted 2003 by Stephen Williamson