Bear Creek Cemetery

Bear Creek is a small cemetery that can be found along the Highway 9 in the Bothell-Woodinville area of Snohomish County, WA.

THE PAST

The grounds of Bear Creek Cemetery were given over to the “other side” by the Turner family, who are probably better known for lending their name to nearby Turner’s Corner.

Some of the Turner family and other early residents are interred here, making this something of a “pioneer’s cemetery” though I believe it lacks that official designation.

Logging and homesteading were the early drivers of economic growth in this area, and it remained decidedly rural until the 1950s when suburbia began to spill out in earnest across the Salish lowlands.

Over the years local communities grew and strip malls and subdivisions replaced pastures and stump fields.

The cemetery however remained rather obscure. During the 1990s only a dozen souls were laid to rest among its tall evergreens.

NOWADAYS

Upon my last visit, I was surprised to see that new life, er, a new era had begun at the Bear Creek Cemetery.

The once empty western section of the grounds have now become the eternal resting place for some members of our local Muslim community.

This new section is quite nice and in my opinion brings a pleasant, vibrant contrast to the charming darkness of the cemetery’s older east side.

THE GROUNDS

The graveyard itself is not particularity large, perhaps a little better than an acre and is effectively divided by a vehicular access path.

The older east section is dominated by large trees. Some of the headstones have been tilted or otherwise displaced by their growth, giving the grounds a classic “spooky graveyard” look.

A few of these older graves have definitely seen better days.

As previously mentioned, the west side has been adopted by the Muslim community, and is largely the more “active” section of this tiny necropolis.