Afterglow Vista

Formally known as the McMillin Memorial Mausoleum, Afterglow Vista is the final resting place of a mineral magnate’s family, entombed among a symbolic structure that looks like something out of a fantasy novel.   

John S. McMillin owned a successful Washington lime works during his life, as well as being a staunch Methodist and active Mason. Thus when he constructed the epic mausoleum that would house the remains of he and his family’s remains, he brought together all of his interests to conceive Afterglow Vista, the name which is actually placed on the stone arch leading to the burial site.

The so-called “mausoleum” is actually an open air rotunda with a huge limestone table in the middle. Around the table are thick stone chairs not only representing the members of the McMillin family, but actually containing their ashes and acting as headstones. This was meant to represent the family dinner table that the McMillins would gather around. There seems to be an empty space at the table and it is said that this was meant to represent the McMillin son who turned away from Methodism. The table is circled by a six Roman columns and a single broken column which is said to represent the unfinished nature of man’s life.

The columns were originally going to hold a brass dome over the table, but in the end the family opted to leave the site exposed to the elements. Even the steps leading up to the monument were numbered with Masonic significance to represent the stages of life. 

This meaningful and loaded statement on death and family is open to the public, although anyone wishing to shoot a swords and sorcery epic may need a permit.