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Ownership
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OPC Caretaker's Cottage; photo by Richard Santee
Courtesy of the Oswego Heritage Council
In the late 1800’s, "iron making was Oregon's first major manufacturing enterprise and the little town of Oswego was the center of this venture" (Ann Fulton, Iron, Wood & Water, p. 26). In 1892 the cemetery was donated to Oregon Iron & Steel for use by the community. About 30 iron workers are buried in OPC and several more in the adjacent Sacred Heart Cemetery.
In 1910 Oswego was incorporated as a city with a very active religious and social life, and in 1934 the cemetery was transferred to the Methodist Episcopal Church which oversaw it for four years. In 1938 ownership of the cemetery was transferred to the Odd Fellows Lodge and for the next 40 years OPC was known as the “Odd Fellows Cemetery.”
By the late 1960s the cemetery was overgrown with weeds and brush, and many markers were damaged. In the 1970’s, a group of concerned citizens, lead by Ethel Schaubel and Bill Blizzard, then-owner of the Lake Oswego Review newspaper, incorporated the cemetery and were responsible for spearheading restoration to its current state. Today, the Oswego Pioneer Cemetery is a 501(c)(13) non-profit corporation with a board that oversees the cemetery’s operation. It has recently completed a caretaker’s cottage which has been refurbished and will be occupied by fall, 2010.
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