Did You Know? Phoenix 1800s Veterans' Cemetery Owner: Lulu Porter

 

PCA Archives

Did you know one of Phoenix’s oldest veterans' cemeteries was owned by a woman in the 1800s?

Lulu Porter, wife of Mayor DeForest Porter, owned the southern half of Block 22 in Neahr’s Addition. This land would become Porter Cemetery.

The land was purchased by the Porters in 1887, although it was not denoted which of the Porter's owned it. DeForest Porter died in 1889, and Lulu moved his body from the Knights of Pythias Cemetery in 1890. She also reinterred her father there, James M. Cotten, a Phoenix pioneer. These burials marked the beginning of what would grow into a community cemetery.

Later, early city plat maps from 1891 labeled it “Mrs. Porter Cemetery,” recognizing Lulu as the owner.

Today, Porter Cemetery is one of the most historically significant parts of Pioneer & Military Memorial Park, not just for its founders, but for its veterans.

It holds nearly one-third of all military burials in PMMP.

To find out more, read "Histories of Pioneer Cemeteries in Phoenix, Arizona" by Ed Dobbins at the Internet Archive.