Saar Pioneer Cemetery

GPS Coordinates: 47.412585, -122.219366
PLSS Coordinates: Sec. 07 T22N R05E
Location: Kent, King County
Record count: 225

Ownership: Kent United Methodist Church

Directions: Saar Pioneer Cemetery is just off Highway 167 at the South 212th exit. If heading north on Highway 167 take the South 212th exit. The exit ramp takes you to a light. If you go straight you'll be at WinCo Foods. To reach the cemetery take a left onto South 212th. The cemetery is on your immediate right hand side before you go over the overpass for Highway 167. If heading south on Highway 167, take the South 212th exit ramp and turn left onto South 212th. Go over the overpass. At the end of the overpass before you reach the light on your left hand side is the cemetery.

Background:

Saar Pioneer Cemetery began in 1873 when valley pioneer and former Seattle councilman, Peter Saar, buried his wife, Margaret, on a small hill overlooking their homestead at a time when no organized burial ground existed in the Kent Valley. In the years that followed, neighboring families asked permission to bury their loved ones there, and the site gradually became a small community cemetery bearing many early Kent family names, some of which later became local street names. When Saar sold his property in 1882, he reserved the one-acre cemetery site, and subsequent transfers, including a recorded 1887 sale for one dollar in gold coin, ultimately placed the cemetery in the care of the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Kent. Active burials continued until 1949, and surveys over the following decades documented a fluctuating and gradually declining number of visible markers due to age and deterioration.

For much of the mid-20th century, the cemetery was neglected and difficult to access, hidden behind fences, pastureland, and overgrown vegetation, and later made vulnerable to vandalism as nearby roads expanded. Despite periods of obscurity, community volunteers, including local church members, scouting groups, and especially the South King County Genealogical Society, have worked diligently to clear brush, restore headstones, and document those buried there. Grants from 4Culture, the Muckleshoot Charity Fund, King County, and assistance from the Veterans Administration have supported restoration efforts, including memorials for unmarked graves and new markers for Civil War veterans who settled in the valley. Today, Saar Pioneer Cemetery stands preserved as a City of Kent Historical Landmark, honoring the early settlers who shaped the community.

Burial Records

• View All Transcriptions Combined, 225 records
  • Tombstone Transcription, by Karen Bouton, September 4, 2007, (143 records)
  • Tombstone Transcription, by Suzanne Livingstone, May 5, 2007, (82 records)

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