In Seattle's early days, burials were made at Maynard's Point on the property of Dr. W. S. Maynard (1808-1873). Maynard's Point, Seattle's original business district, is now part of the Seattle waterfront landfill in lower Pioneer Square.
In the soggy old days, a lagoon lay to the east of the Point. The lagoon was slowly filled with sawdust from the Yesler Mill, junk, horse carcasses, and other matter. To the south lay the tideflats created by the Duwamish River.
Burials in Maynard's Point began as early as 1854. In 1864 they were removed to the Seattle Cemetery, located on lower Queen Anne on the current (1999) site of Denny Park. The first city gasworks were then built on the former graveyard.
One of the burials was that of Dr. W. B. G. Cherry, who died in Seattle in March 1854. Dr. Cherry had been wounded by Indians while participating in a posse at Holmes Harbor.
Some reports indicate that there was a full-scale cemetery on Dr. Maynard's land; however these reports appear to have confused the burial ground with the Seattle Cemetery, to which burials at Maynard's Point were later removed.
The few bodies here were removed in September 1864, probably when the first gasworks were built not far from the spot. This burial ground appears to have been the cemetery also known as the Duwamish Cemetery, where it is reported Chief Seattle was buried after his death on June 7, 1866. Chief Seattle's grave is now in Suquamish, north of Bainbridge Island, suggesting that the initial report is in error or that the burial was moved.
