Forest Hill Cemetery: Pioneer Resting Place of Swansonville

Nestled off Swansonville Road, Forest Hill Cemetery is more than a burial ground; it is the final chapter in the story of our area's first homesteaders. As Floyd Thoren recalled in a 2003 Port Ludlow Voice article, this land was originally part of the early community known as "Forest Hill."

The cemetery's origins are a direct gift from that pioneer generation. Bill Bates, one of the area's first farmers, donated five acres of land to establish this community resting place. A walk among the headstones reveals the names of the families who cleared the land and built our community: Bill and George Bates, Severin Johnson, Isack Klockers, Hans Swanson, Ole Vogt, and Fred Warner.

A Landscape Transformed

The view from these hills has changed dramatically. Floyd remembered that by 1905, the area was logged clean, and from his family's farm, you could see Mount Rainier on the horizon. The forests we see today are all second growth, a testament to the region's cycles of harvest and renewal. Clearing these vast stumps for farmland was a monumental task—young Floyd was fascinated watching farmers use dynamite to send stumps flying fifty feet into the air.

Connections Carved by Foot and Road

In the 1920s, connections between families were made on narrow dirt roads. A trip from Swansonville to visit "Grandpa" at the head of the bay was a 45-minute walk for young Floyd and his mother, Millie. Their route crossed the Warner farm, where Fred and his wife often offered a warm welcome and freshly baked cookies—a simple, enduring memory of neighborly kindness.

Forest Hill Cemetery stands as a peaceful, open-air archive. Each marker is a connection to the era of mills, farms, and the tight-knit community that eventually built the Swansonville Church. It is a sacred place that reminds us of the deep roots under our modern roads.

Source: Thoren, Floyd. "Memories." Port Ludlow Voice, November 2003. Shared with staff writer Maureen Poole.