Former Mayor Merrill Sanford examines the damage done to the Eagles Cemetery in Douglas on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018. A vehicle drove through the cemetery early Thursday morning. Sanford owns the property. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Former Mayor Merrill Sanford examines the damage done to the Eagles Cemetery in Douglas on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018. A vehicle drove through the cemetery early Thursday morning. Sanford owns the property. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Car crashes into historic Douglas cemetery, driver leaves scene

Century-old grave marker among damaged items

Merrill Sanford’s phone buzzed at about 7:45 a.m. Thursday, carrying bad news from a friend. Within minutes, Sanford was on the road.

Ten minutes later, Sanford arrived at the Douglas Eagles Cemetery, which has been in his family for more than 50 years. When he got there, he saw what his friend had texted him about: a Jeep had plowed through the fence around the cemetery and had torn up sod in the cemetery itself.

The Jeep was still there in the cemetery, Sanford said, but the driver wasn’t there. Police were already on scene, Sanford said. The cemetery sits just off Douglas Highway near Lawson Creek Road.

The damage to the fence itself is probably between $3,000 and $5,000, Sanford said, but other damages go beyond money. A decades-old lilac bush was ripped up, and a headstone from 1913 (belonging to John Wesley Stoft Jr.) was broken in half, along with a couple other headstones Sanford is still working to identify.

“Most of all that stuff was old and it’s sad to see something get destroyed, that’s for sure,” Sanford said. “I just hope nobody was hurt.”

There were no injuries, according to a JPD dispatch, and Lt. Krag Campbell said the police were able to track down the driver. The driver is a 35-year-old Juneau resident, Campbell said, and the police aren’t releasing her name because no arrest was made.

JPD is forwarding charges to the District Attorney’s Office, Campbell said, recommending that the woman be charged with one count of not immediately giving notice of an accident, which is a class A misdemeanor. There’s no indication that the woman was impaired or intoxicated at the time of the crash, Campbell said.

According to a 1995 CBJ report about Douglas’ historic cemeteries, the Eagles Cemetery was established in 1902. The cemetery was dedicated in 1904, according to the report, and Eagles Grand President (and Douglas druggist) Elmer E. Smith stated, “For when an Eagle takes his last homeward flight, here he may rest in peace.”

Many of the cemeteries in Douglas have fallen into disrepair over the years, but the Eagles Cemetery has remained well maintained and in good condition. Sanford lamented the fact that Wednesday’s crash happened in a part of the cemetery that was the most cared-for.

Sanford, a former mayor of Juneau, recently approached the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly and proposed that the city take over maintenance of the cemeteries. The endeavor would require the city to hire additional Parks & Recreation staff, and Assembly members will discuss the possibility during next year’s budget cycle, they agreed at an August meeting.


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read