Franklin Cemetery in Franklin, Washington

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Get directions Franklin, Washington, USA

Coordinates: 47.29320, -121.96740
Cemetery ID:

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About these numbers These percentages indicate the number of Find a Grave memorials that have a grave photo or GPS coordinates. We don't know the total number of burials in a cemetery, so we cannot calculate a percentage of those with memorials, photos or GPS coordinates.

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Franklin was a significant coal mining town in the 1800s, but it has been abandoned for many years. As the U.S. began to rely on other sources of fuel after WWI, the demand for coal began to decline and led to the end of coal mining in the Puget Sound area. All that remains of Franklin today are old building foundations, some artifacts, the shaft of the coal mine, and this cemetery.

The cemetery is in a deplorable state of neglect, particularly disappointing because it is on State Park land. A forest has grown up inside the cemetery, heaving up some headstones and crushing others that lay in the path of falling trees that should have never been allowed to grow up in there in the first place. Blackberries threaten to swallow the entire cemetery, and no doubt conceal some of the graves. Many of the headstones have been stolen by vandals. There have been a few attempts to clean up the cemetery over the years, but nothing has been done there for a very long time.

There is very little history of Franklin available on the Internet. There are a couple of Washington History Link essays that feature Franklin. One is about coal mining in the region, and the other is about a disastrous Franklin mine fire in 1894. The best source of information about Franklin's history is the museum in nearby Black Diamond. (text by Heidi)

The trailhead to access Franklin and its cemetery is located at N 47° 18.057 W 121° 57.150. Parking is prohibited at this location. To be legal, park farther down the road past the NO PARKING signs. One pullout you can use is located at N 47° 18.173 W 121° 57.166

Franklin was located in the Green River Gorge, approximately 1.6 miles east of Black Diamond.

Earliest Burial: 08/24/1891

Latest Burial: 02/08/1908