Northern State Hospital Cemetery

Northern State Hospital Cemetery This page is dedicated to the cemetery for Northern State Hospital in Sedro-Woolley, Wa. It seems that there may be some exceptions to this around the 1930s.

The first person was buried in the cemetery on 01/16/1911 and the last was on 12/14/1952. The policy at NSH was to cremate all patients (whose bodies were not claimed by family) unless it was against the religious beliefs of the patient (Catholic patients, etc.). Upon the death of a patient, relatives would be contacted for their preference. It seems that the cremated remains of Protestant patient

s may have been buried here, at least for a period of time. The crematorium was not constructed until 1927 so there were no cremations at NSH prior to 1927. Cremated remains that were buried in the cemetery were not buried in marked graves, as they were often buried between graves. However, this is something that remains a mystery. While the burial list that has been complied seems to be fairly thorough, there are some burials missing from the list. For this reason, the exact number of patients buried in the NSH cemetery is uncertain. On July 10, 1953 a law passed declaring that “State institutions have no authority to embalm, bury, cremate or otherwise dispose of unclaimed bodies of deceased inmates.” For this reason, no one who died after this date would be buried in a state institution cemetery in Washington State. The current burial list contains:
840 “natural” burials
717 cans of cremated remains
There are at least 41 people missing from the list. When NSH was closed, there were 204 containers of cremated remains stored in the morgue. The containers were tin cans which had been obtained from the Hospital cannery, with the deceased's hospital number printed on each in grease pencil. In 1983, the cans were buried in a plot at Hawthorne Cemetery in Mount Vernon. These 204 burials have not been added to the burial list (yet).

Making progress. :)
08/30/2026

Making progress. :)

The cemetery renovation has begun. Scroll through the page and check out some of the posts about it, if you missed them.
08/12/2026

The cemetery renovation has begun. Scroll through the page and check out some of the posts about it, if you missed them.

The project is starting. 🙂
08/12/2026

The project is starting. 🙂

SEDRO-WOOLLEY — Improvements to the Northern State Hospital Cemetery entrance and parking lot are scheduled to begin Monday and continue until Sept. 17.

08/05/2026

Gonna try to do some cemetery work. Not sure how much I’ll get done in this heat though.

06/21/2026

Sedro-Woolley gets grant to improve cemetery at former mental institution

06/17/2026

Cemetery Renovation Project Update:

I’m happy to share that the burial records research has been completed, and the final list of names has been provided to the City for inclusion on the memorial.

The City has now completed the bidding process and received several strong bids that came in within budget. As a result, the project is officially moving forward into the construction phase.

This is a major milestone in the effort to honor and preserve the memory of the more than 1,600 patients buried at the cemetery. Thank you to everyone who has supported this project along the way.

05/25/2026

SEDRO-WOOLLEY — The city of Sedro-Woolley has received a state Department of Commerce grant to make improvements at the Northern State Hospital cemetery.

02/25/2026

🪦Join us on March 21st at 6:30 PM at the Sedro-Woolley Museum for a special presentation with John Horne, dedicated historian of Northern State Hospital, as he explores the full history of the Northern State Hospital Cemetery and shares the restoration plans to honor the people buried at this historic site.

02/25/2026

Hey everyone! I’m still preparing for my March presentation on the Northern State Hospital Cemetery, and I’d love your input. What topics are you curious about? Are there specific questions you’d like me to answer in the presentation? Feel free to drop any ideas, even if they’re small. I made a post a while back. There were plenty of good comments but no topics or questions were offered. Your input will help with the presentation. Thanks!

02/05/2026

I will be giving a presentation on the Northern State Hospital Cemetery in March and I’m seeking public input as I prepare. Are there specific topics, themes, or questions you would like to see addressed during the presentation?
Please share your suggestions in the comments below.

Address

Helmick Road
Sedro-Woolley, WA
98284

Telephone

+13602309953

Website

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