The six concrete chairs arranged around a round table and surrounded by soaring stone pillars are the perfect place for a séance. Or a picnic, if you’ve spent the pandemic writing a book about cemeteries, and have grown a tad too comfortable around memorials to the dead. So my friend and coauthor Heide and I found ourselves unwrapping our soggy prepackaged falafel sandwiches inside the McMillin Memorial Mausoleum on San Juan Island, Washington. But when we heard people coming up the path, we came to our senses, scooped up our falafels and got out of the way. We realized we should show a bit more respect, plus we didn’t want to ruin the creepy somber vibe for other visitors.
Mausoleum history
The John S. McMillin Memorial Mausoleum stands at Roche Harbor on the northern tip of San Juan Island. McMillin owned the Roche Harbor Lime Company at the turn of the twentieth century. He got rich with his monopoly on the lime biz west of the Mississippi River, and supplied much of the lime used to manufacture the cement that rebuilt San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire.
McMillin wanted a really fab family mausoleum. I’ve heard people mock those who spend a lot on memorializing themselves, saying the money should be spent on the living. But if you want to be remembered and talked about a century later, a fascinating mausoleum is a sound investment. Because here we are. How many people would remember McMillin if not for Afterglow Vista? That’s what he named the mausoleum. The name supposedly derives from the summer sunsets on Roche Harbor. But this monument feels like the afterglow of a prosperous and influential life.
McMillin Memorial Mausoleum design
If you love secret societies, symbolism, numerology and mystical architecture, the McMillin Memorial Mausoleum should be your primary stop on San Juan Island. The memorial is fraught with meaning, from the stairs to the columns. As you enter the mausoleum, the stairs are set in groups of three, five and seven–representing the three stages of life (youth, adult and old age), the five orders of architecture (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite) and the seven liberal arts (arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, grammar, logic, music and rhetoric), respectively. Since this is the Pacific Northwest, the steps are wonderfully mossy. One of the supporting pillars is intentionally broken to represent the sudden interruption of life. Look closely and you’ll also find symbols from the Bible, Masonry and the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Fittingly, the six chairs and table are made from limestone and cement. The chairs are arranged just the way the McMillins sat around their family dining table when they were alive. In the base of each chair are the ashes of that family member. Okay, once I read that I realized our falafel picnic was even tackier. Also, I wish I’d noted whose chair I sat in.
Visiting the mausoleum
If you bring your car on the ferry to San Juan Island, it’s a short drive up to Roche Harbor. Or you could take the San Juan Transit shuttle or rent a bike. Once you get to Roche Harbor, you’ll find the historic Roche Harbor Cemetery, an interesting old cemetery built on a hillside. To get to the McMillin Mausoleum, you pass through the cemetery, then walk a short distance on a forest trail. The mausoleum is set off by itself in the forest. It’s a lovely, peaceful place to visit, although some might find it creepy.
