The discoveries led to delays of a massive sewer upgrade in Evansville. The storage system was going in where an old church used to stand, and it turned out to be the site of a cemetery that’s more than a century old.
“It’s not unheard of to have dozens of graves in a city cemetery even at that time.
Although it may have only been a river town, it was growing and certainly people were living and dying here, so they had to put them somewhere, and this cemetery was the most likely spot,” said Andrew Martin, who acts as the director of operations for Cultural Resource Analyst Inc.
Officials said the cemetery was thought to have been built in the early 1800s by the early residents of Evansville.
Evansville Water and Sewer Utility officials told reporters there are specific rules and guidelines they must follow.
“It’s part of state law. Any time you find human remains, you must stop and call our office, the coroner and law enforcement.
We all work together. And so, yes, there may be more, and as long as there’s more excavation in this area, there’s always the potential of finding more graves,” said Cathy Draeger-Williams, an archeologist at the Department of Natural Resources.
“The contractor and the archaeologist that we have, have been very expeditious. This is really, you know, went a lot faster than we kind of thought, but it’s a process, and we’re kind of in the middle of it,” said an official with Evanville Water and Sewer Utility.
The water utility company approved a 178-day extension on the project, and 58 of those days are set aside for the removal and documentation of the cemetery remains.
Martin said they’ve removed 63 of the remains so far, but there are still five in the ground.
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