San Juan County Cemetery District #3 owns and operates two cemeteries on Orcas Island: Woodlawn Cemetery, located on West Beach road down past Island Hardware and Mt. Baker Cemetery, located on Mt. Baker Road, next to Buck Park.

Both cemeteries were originally established in 1890, are open to the public and offer burial plots and services to the community.

The Cemetery District was formed by the vote of Orcas Island residents and property owners in 1985. Woodlawn Cemetery was the original cemetery for which the district was formed.

In 2009, Mt. Baker Cemetery was accepted as a donation to the district.

Woodlawn offers plots for memorial markers, full casket burials, urn burials, and can even respond to “green burials.”

In addition to full plots, which can accommodate a number of urn burials and a casket, Woodlawn also offers smaller single urn plots.

Mt. Baker Cemetery is restricted to urn burials and memorial markers only – no casket or green burials.

Reference books with maps and plot listings are available at both cemeteries and at the Orcas Island Library – or you can contact the clerk (360-472-1573 or clerk@orcascemetery.org), or visit www.orcascemetery.org.

There are many plots still available at both cemeteries to serve Orcas for generations to come.

The district board consists of three commissioners, each elected to a six-year term. The current commissioners are: Pierrette Guimond, Joyce Nigretto, and Patricia Resch.

The public is welcome at the meetings, which are at the library on the first Wednesday of every month.