Burial Grounds Around the Edges: Franklin Square and St. Stephens
Author(s): Rebecca Yamin
Year: 2022
Summary
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“We the People”: Historical Cemetery Archaeology in Philadelphia" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.
Franklin Square, one of William Penn's original squares, was refurbished in anticipation of the opening of the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Historical research revealed that the First German Reformed Church leased a portion of the square to use as a burial ground in 1741. Following well established precedents, John Milner Associates consulted with the descendant congregation and recommended monitoring during construction activities in case burials were disturbed . The monitoring uncovered many grave stones, but it also uncovered evidence of the reworking of the landscape once the state had reclaimed the land in the 1830s. The results of this project contradicted mahy assumptions we make about burial ground projects--the sanctity of burials, descendant community attitudes, public appreciation of sacred places. Assumptions were also wrong about a burial ground associated with St. Stephens Church which is also discussed.
Cite this Record
Burial Grounds Around the Edges: Franklin Square and St. Stephens. Rebecca Yamin. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Philadelphia, PA. 2022 ( tDAR id: 469304)
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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology