Documenting Historic Land Use of the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery on the Milwaukee County Institution Grounds, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

Summary

This is an abstract from the "POSTER Session 2: Linking Historic Documents and Background Research in Archaeology" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

From 1878 through 1974 Milwaukee County utilized four locations on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin for burial of more than 7,000 individuals, primarily paupers, the institutionalized, and the unidentified. Two archaeological excavations in 1991-1992 and again in 2013 resulted in the recovery of over 2,400 individuals from one of those cemetery locations. This poster presents the results of ongoing research into the land use history of the cemetery location.  An analysis of historical documentation, historical maps and aerial photographs has provided a refined understanding of the organization of the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery (MCPFC). This research reveals that between 1925 when the cemetery ceased to be utilized, 1930 when, based on an aerial photo of various construction projects on the Milwaukee County Grounds, the cemetery was still extant, and 1932 when additional construction took place, the cemetery appears to have been "lost."

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• POSTER Session 2: Linking Historic Documents and Background Research in Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 456