Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first burial was in 1846 with the cemetery established in 1855.

The original land owner, James B. Stephens, purchased a land claim extending from the east bank of the Willamette River to present day Southeast 23rd and from Stark Street to Division Street.

In 1854, Stephens sold the land to Colburn Barrell, with the caveat that he maintain Emmor's gravesite.

[8] On November 25, 2020, the portion of cemetery's war memorial honoring Mexican-American soldiers was vandalized with graffiti,[9] The statue which stood atop this section of the war memorial was toppled and vandalized with graffiti as well.

[2] Lone Fir covers 30.5 acres (123,000 m2) and has over 25,000 graves, with over 10,000 of those unknown due to poor maintenance.