A Century and a Half of History in Junction City, Oregon

 IN THE COMPANY OF OREGON PIONEERS AND FOUNDING FAMILIES

Wade Skinner and The Team
Wade Skinner's team carries a casket in procession to Rest Lawn in 2007

Rest Lawn Memorial Park is a 14.35 acre cemetery, located 4.5 miles west of Junction City, Oregon, one half mile north of High Pass Road on Territorial Highway, just southwest of Cox Butte. The first burial was in 1868, with 145 individuals interred there prior to 1900. For much of the 1900's the cemetery was owned and operated by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), Oasis Lodge #42 of Junction City.

MANY NAMES, SAME PLACE

The cemetery has had a number of names over the years, including the Barrow Cemetery, the Bear Creek Cemetery, Cox Butte Cemetery, IOOF Junction City Cemetery, Long Tom Cemetery, Mahon Cemetery, and Oasis Lodge #42 IOOF Cemetery. In the mid to late 1960's, the cemetery became privately owned and the name was changed to Rest Lawn Memorial Park.

The cemetery is currently privately owned, changing hands in 2014 to the stewardship of Sustainable Cemetery Management advocate Cynthia Beal, living and working in Lane County since 1989, who has a personal passion for gardening and sustainable forestry and agriculture, and is bringing a range of natural burial options for both cremated and full-body remains. A final name change is being contemplated - perhaps a return to the Cox Butte Cemetery name, in keeping with geographical history of the place - is in the cemetery's future. 

As of 2014, the Cemetery management has elected to transition the grounds to more sustainable landscape management practices. The use of chemical poisons has been almost entirely eliminated, and the cemetery has been trialing many alternative less-toxic forms of vegetation management. Mowing is done on a strict regimen, ensuring maximum efficiency of personnel and fuel. The cemetery composts its flower tributes, rather than throwing them away; its branches and clippings are composted on site rather than hauled; its extra soil from graves is spread into new terraces, beds and berms; new hedgerows for wildlife and boundary management are being created; and irrigation is now being managed with stronger conservation principles in mind.

Continue reading "A Century and a Half of History in Junction City, Oregon" »


Cemetery Maps

Here are the maps to the cemetery's gardens and sections. The sections are marked with metal pins in the grass and can sometimes be hard to find, but if the grave has a marker the location should get you close enough without needing to use find the pins. 

The easiest way to find a specific grave is to use the row numbers; they're in the Burial Book (linked here) and are on stakes (by 5s)  alongside the roads.

NATURAL BURIAL AREAS - Opening now along the North edge of the developed cemetery area. alongside David and Cedars.

  • The Memorial Forest Edgerow (North David, along Fir Trees) - Full body burial graves, sequential, forest hedgerow burial (Plants on top of graves)
  • The Fern Forest - natural cremation burials inside the New Forest
  • The Birch Grove (North Cedars) - natural cremation burials with Marble Upright headstones

The Burial Book

Download or view the Rest Lawn Burial Book . It's organized alphabetically, by last name, followed by the Garden, Section, Block and Space of the burial. It's over eighty pages long and contains the records of over 3,700 burials. 

You can see the gardens on the maps at this link: https://www.restlawnonline.com/maps/

Warning: This cemetery has been creating rows and spaces for almost 170 years so the organization doesn't always make sense at first. We have stakes with row numbers that correspond to the grave spaces on the map and that should help some, but the original numbering system was unique, and subsequent cemetery managers got creative, as well!

Please note: Due to the age of the cemetery and the state of early record keeping, not all burials may be recorded here. In 2003, the first burial book was compiled by Otilya Lay and members of the Oregon Genealogical Society, based on MARKERS in the cemetery. All interments in the cemetery's records are present as of 1996. Prior to that date, burials may not be listed if the family has failed to place a marker. The current cemetery ownership is in the process of completing the burial book record as time and resources are available.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A MARKER FOR YOUR FAMILY MEMBER, OR YOU WANT YOUR MONUMENT CLEANED, please contact us.

If you notice an error, please send an email to the cemetery office (on the contact page) so that we can correct it.


Natural Burial at Rest Lawn Memorial Park

 

 

natural burial at rest lawn
Natural Earth Burials at Rest Lawn

YOU CAN HAVE A NATURAL BURIAL AT REST LAWN IN ANY GARDEN, ANY GRAVE - NO VAULTS OR EMBALMING REQUIRED...

Over a century ago, Rest Lawn's very first graves - back when it was the old Cox Butte Cemetery or during its stint under the Odd Fellows and Masons - were natural; no vaults, mason-made markers, and simple wooden coffins were the norm. Inspired by the natural burial movement spreading throughout existing cemeteries in the UK and the US, Rest Lawn is working with the Natural Burial Company to recreate that pioneer tradition once more, but with a modern twist. 

A natural burial returns the body directly to the earth, unembalmed, and in a biodegradable coffin or shroud. Vaults or grave-liners are not required if a natural biodegradable container is used.

We now have the Fern Forest (opening soon), dedicated to natural cremation burials, while natural burials - both cremated and full body remains - are encouraged in ALL parts of the cemetery. 

And if you're just buying a plot today, natural burials are all that we allow at this time, and going forward.

 

Continue reading "Natural Burial at Rest Lawn Memorial Park" »


Contact Us at Rest Lawn

Rest Lawn Entrance
Flags on Memorial Day at Rest Lawn

Visiting Hours: the cemetery is open to visitors with family or friends interred here from dawn to dusk every day.

Office Hours: Our cemetery office (located in Eugene at our Oak Hill Cemetery) is open by appointment only. To speak with us about arranging for a burial or cremated remains interment here, or for any other reason, please contact us by phone or email. 


Website
:    www.restlawnonline.com
E-mail:     [email protected]**
Telephone: (541) 998-5810


Physical Address for the cemetery (DIRECTIONS LINK HERE):  
94335 Territorial Hwy
Junction City, OR 97448

Mailing Address:  
P.O. Box 2026,
Eugene, Oregon 
97402

_____________________________

Licenses and Permits:   

  • Certified by State of Oregon Dept. of Consumer and Business Services as a Certified Provider of Pre-arranged Cemetery Services and Merchandise.
  • Certificate to Operate a Cemetery Issued by State of Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board
  • Member: Cemetery Association of Oregon