Mt Calvary Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleum

My rating for this cemetery really feels phoney in true Holden Caufield fashion. It’s not like I’m buried there, nor is my family faith (see above) present in my life now.
I come here to visit family and it’s a peaceful place to reflect and imagine the lives of your ancestors.
This review needs a little background…
Anna and Matthew were newly married when they arrived in America through Ellis Island at the beginning of the last century. They came from Bosnia-​Hercegovina. The Austro-​Hungarian empire was still a ‘thing’…
The ridiculous wasteful bloodbath that was WW1 had yet to start but there were tensions, so Anna and Matthew, peasants themselves, packed up what little they had and came here, never to see their family friends or country of origin again…
They built a beautiful home, while Matthew built the railway down on Swan Island. They had three girls and two boys — the boys George and John, fought for this country in WW2 and were excellent uncles. Mimi Catherine and Stella (my grandma) were the daughters. Fun loving Matthew and Anna raised a beautiful family and became an American citizens late in life.
Anna never did learn how to read, she was always busy, seriously sharp and though she had no education, she was a tall elegant beauty who always looks like a Slavic princess to me. She died right before I was born. Her and Matthew worked very very hard building their American Dream and I like to think they did. Where they are buried
has got to be one of the most beautiful views in Portland.
I never knew them, but I visit them when I can. I’m not very good at their language but I try.
Hi Grandma Anna and Grandpa Matthew. Thanks for being brave enough to live and be buried in your adopted country, and thanks for leaving enough stories, traces and photos so I can feel like I belong to part of your great adventure, started over 100 years ago and still going .
Hvala baka i djed

I wasn’t sure about rating a cemetery, but it is another sort of business I don’t often think about (or try not to I suspect) and I guess as such deserves to be reviewed. I do have a few friends and relatives who are buried here and I think it is a pretty setting were it not for the giant antennas that hover over the place. I am not sure if they were there before the cemetery or the other way around, but it does detract from the contemplative and picturesque image I suspect they are hoping to achieve. Were it not for those blinky lighted things, I would probably up this a star or more. Until then, I just find it sort of, well, sort of at odds with the rest of the place.

I love being buried here. It’s an excellent location, quite l, and every now and then a few delicious pedestrians walk by. They do mow the lawn at ridiculous times in the morning, and you know, we’re only like 6 feet away. So loud at 5:30 in the morning. But all in all, it’s a pretty great place, nice brains, beautifully landscaped, and nice brains. Brains. Braaaiins. Bbbbraainnnnnns!

Mt. Calvary is an absolutely beautiful cemetery. The location is surrounded by trees and «forresty» areas, seeing as it is quite isolated. The grounds have been well-​kept and nicely maintained every single time that I have visited. There is something truly peaceful about the place.
Even though I’m not a Catholic, the grounds are so nice that I would definitely consider purchasing a burial plot here.
Now, having read another Unilocal review about the tight security: Yes, it is a relatively secure location. Apart from the isolated location, it is not necessarily the best cemetery in Portland for nighttime lurking… Which is good for the people who are interred there, but isn’t a good thing for paranormal investigators or people wanting to lurk around an awesome cemetery at night.
Now, I’m not ENTIRELY guilt-​free when it comes to wandering around Portland’s cemeteries at night, but this is by far one of my favorites.
Overall, it’s a beautiful cemetery. And, to make things even better, there is a bus stop (An «infrequent-​service bus, unfortunately) that is located right in front of the cemetery grounds. Will definitely continue to return!!!

I wish I could give this place a positive review. But, being that I was harassed and forced to leave by rent-​a-​cops and made to feel like a criminal when I entered the grounds after hours (which are not clearly posted), my review is on the negative side.
My partner and I pulled into the parking lot, and within seconds of exiting the vehicle, two security guards pulled in and demanded to see our IDs, then wrote our names down to report us to the owners, and told us that the police would be involved if we entered again after hours. WTF? There are no gates at all around the cemetery.
The explanation we were given as to why we couldn’t be there was, «A lot of creepy things happen in these places…»
Duh! Why do you think we were there?

Maybe you are a person who sometimes visits the burial places of ancestors who are not your own. Maybe if you’re not and think that’s pretty morbid, you should just stop reading this review while you’re ahead.
Me, well I’ve always liked old cemeteries. They can just be so peaceful and pretty, and (no disrespect intended, but) the dearly departed really do get the best real estate in the city. Especially here at Mt. Calvary. Apart from the gigantic phone towers rising 3 stories above the meticulously maintained headstones, this cemetery has one of the more beautiful views Portland has to offer.