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Tonight at 8PM, National Geographic Channel is going to air and episode of Decrypters that examines the graves of Washington Park. I am privy to enough info about the work done down there to know that this show is only going to skim the surface of what was found.
Interestingly, while some of the exhumations were done sensitively, there are no laws that protect non-native American graves that are over 150 years old, unless they have some other historical designation. The north end of Washington Park is essentially a pre-1860 potter's field, filled with nameless early Cincinnatians. Any record of who is/was there is long lost, apparently, and the site itself has been disturbed numerous times. Most of the graves belonging to people of means were reinterred someplace else when Washington Park was built in the 1860s, although their gravestones were sometimes left behind.
It will be interesting to see how this show treats the work done.
I can't wait to watch that tonight. The Enquirer's story today detailing some of what was found was eerie. For those who may believe in ghosts, that new WP garage has severe hauntings written all over it.
I can't wait to watch that tonight. The Enquirer's story today detailing some of what was found was eerie. For those who may believe in ghosts, that new WP garage has severe hauntings written all over it.
I wonder if they'll find any secret subway tunnels under there.
Tonight at 8PM, National Geographic Channel is going to air and episode of Decrypters that examines the graves of Washington Park. I am privy to enough info about the work done down there to know that this show is only going to skim the surface of what was found.
Interestingly, while some of the exhumations were done sensitively, there are no laws that protect non-native American graves that are over 150 years old, unless they have some other historical designation. The north end of Washington Park is essentially a pre-1860 potter's field, filled with nameless early Cincinnatians. Any record of who is/was there is long lost, apparently, and the site itself has been disturbed numerous times. Most of the graves belonging to people of means were reinterred someplace else when Washington Park was built in the 1860s, although their gravestones were sometimes left behind.
It will be interesting to see how this show treats the work done.
So what did you think? I'm not sure about some of their sensationalist claims, but man-oh-man were those some nice shots of the city. I wish Nat Geo was in charge of filming all of the movies and shows shot here from now on. A national audience got a good glimpse of the QC in HD!
So what did you think? I'm not sure about some of their sensationalist claims, but man-oh-man were those some nice shots of the city. I wish Nat Geo was in charge of filming all of the movies and shows shot here from now on. A national audience got a good glimpse of the QC in HD!
I agree with you, there were some good shots of the city, although I think most of the shots of 19th century buildings were canned footage. They seemed to be the type of row house structures that are more common on the east coast or even the UK, not our Italianate or Greek Revival style.
The basic stories that they explored, were ok. I knew about the child nailed into the coffin, and that one has really baffled the investigators. I would have liked to have seen the show dig into that one more (no pun intended), other than to call it a "graveyard of horrors." So, they hyped some stuff up quite a bit to create some drama, but what can we expect?
I thought naming the buried couple based off a list of cholera victims and then going so far as to say they returned to Cincinnati after living in Minnesota for years before getting sick and dying almost immediately upon return was a bit of a stretch.
And I'm not sure what to make of the face reconstructions either.
Weren't potter fields in cemeteries for the masses of so-called "nameless" or poor who had no options for other burial? I would think that one of the possible reasons they were buried on top of each other was that these bodies were just put in there quickly without much thought given to who is who. But Nat Geo seemed to go to great lengths to define them as a married couple.
I thought naming the buried couple based off a list of cholera victims and then going so far as to say they returned to Cincinnati after living in Minnesota for years before getting sick and dying almost immediately upon return was a bit of a stretch.
And I'm not sure what to make of the face reconstructions either.
Weren't potter fields in cemeteries for the masses of so-called "nameless" or poor who had no options for other burial? I would think that one of the possible reasons they were buried on top of each other was that these bodies were just put in there quickly without much thought given to who is who. But Nat Geo seemed to go to great lengths to define them as a married couple.
In addition to largely being a potters field, there was a children's asylum nearby, so that would probably account for the large number of children. The cemetery was multi-denominational, so there was no church keeping records of who was in their yard. If there ever were any grave markers for many of these people, they were unceremoniously removed over a century ago when the park was built. A few markers were excavated, but these were for wealthier people and records do exist showing that the bodies were moved to places like Spring Grove. They must have had new headstones cut when they moved them.
I can definitely envision situations during a cholera outbreak and it being a stiflingly hot Cincinnati summer that they would want to bury the dead as quickly as possible. One of the things that exacerbated the cholera situation was that in those days the river might drop to just a few feet and virtually lose its current. There was no flow to carry away the flotsam from the city.
I also wondered if she might not have been buried earlier and they lost track of the graves and the whole reason her skull was smashed was from digging.
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