Coal Miners Cemetery — Part 3
August 12, 2015
NEW — 6 a.m. Aug. 12, 2015
This is the third history feature installment about the historic Coal Miner’s Cemetery, on 129th Avenue Southeast, south of the Newcastle Library.
Every cemetery has many stories to tell. Some are sad, some are heartwarming and some help us remember how we have grown as a people.
At the time of the first burial in 1878, it was unheard of for whites and blacks to be buried in the same cemetery. Chinese would also be excluded. The Newcastle Miner’s Cemetery has both ethnic groups, though there is a distinction.
Coal Miner’s Cemetery — Part 2
July 2, 2015
Last month, I introduced the miner’s cemetery on 129th Avenue Southeast with a promise to remember some of those interred there.
John McKnight is a well-known name in the area, and the Renton School District even named a middle school after him. His father, also John McKnight, was an important man in the Newcastle coal mining era and is buried in our cemetery.
John McKnight, the father, had served in the Civil War and came west after the conflict looking for opportunity. He was very interested in the birth of our nation and wrote and delivered a speech commemorating Independence Day in 1875.
Coal Miners Cemetery — Part 1
June 4, 2015
Did you know there is a cemetery in the city of Newcastle?
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Newcastle’s Historic Coal Miners Cemetery was established in 1878.
