Cherry Valley Cemetery AKA Novelty
26526 NE Cherry Valley Rd
Novelty
Duvall, King County, Washington 98019
In 1886, an early Pioneer and saloon keeper, named James O’Leary, deeded on acre of land to the Squak Methodist Mission for the building of a church and cemetery. The half acre cemetery behind the church was used by Duvall’s early pioneers, but only for a few short years because seepage from the upper slopes kept the ground constantly wet and soggy. It was disconcerting for mourners to see gravediggers furiously bailing several inches of water before lowering the casket so the site was abandoned as a burial place ground sometime between 1902 and 1905. In 1909 and 1910 when a portion of the hillside had to be excavated for the Great Northern Railroad right-of-way, about 20 bodies were moved, some to the new Novelty cemetery south of Duvall.
