Known as "Seattle's Pioneer Cemetery," it is run by an independent, non-profit association.

It was founded in 1872 as the Seattle Masonic Cemetery and later renamed for its view of Lake Washington to the east.

Lake View includes the Nisei War Memorial Monument, a 21-foot column erected in 1949, listing the names of 47 Japanese American soldiers from Seattle who were killed during World War II.

[14][15] The Nisei Veterans Committee, in response to the US Army's plans in late 1947 to return Washington's Nisei war dead, began a door-to-door fundraising campaign in the Puget Sound region, collecting donations of $1 to $5, and raising over $10,000 to construct the memorial.

[16][17] During the 2020 George Floyd protests, the memorial was toppled by unknown persons on July 3, 2020.