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https://nypost.com/2022/10/29/secrets-of-the-20000-bodies-buried-under-washington-square-park/
Secrets of the 20,000 dead bodies buried under Washington Square Park
By Rikki Schlott
Published Oct. 29, 2022
Updated Oct. 30, 2022, 1:15 a.m. ET
The gnarliest underground scene in Greenwich Village is buried below
Washington Square Park, which served as a potter's field until about
1820, and the final resting place for far more bodies than the city
planned on thanks to yellow-fever outbreaks.
The gnarliest underground scene in Greenwich Village is buried below
Washington Square Park, which served as a potter's field until about
1820, and the final resting place for far more bodies than the city
planned on thanks to yellow-fever outbreaks.
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Inside LI’s spookiest spot — and the brave ghostbusters investigating it
Washington Square is one of New York’s liveliest parks, with NYU
students, dog walkers, street performers, tourists and drug dealers
crowding its nearly 10 acres of lush sidewalks and meeting spots. But
just below all this bustling humanity lurks a shocking secret: 20,000
dead bodies.
“What lies beneath that splendid, recently re-landscaped and renovated
outdoor sanctuary is a bit more morbid,” research librarian Carmen Nigro
wrote in a blog post for the New York Public Library.
From 1797 to roughly 1820, the eastern two-thirds of Washington Square
Park was a potter’s field, where the bodies of poor and unidentified New
Yorkers were unceremoniously dumped in mass graves. For just $4,500, New
York City purchased the plot so impoverished locals could afford a
decent spot to rest in peace.
Two hundred years later, the organization NYC Ghosts gathers a tour
group every night below the park’s iconic arch to tell the spooky
stories of the neighborhood. On one recent foggy evening, a lanky tour
guide holding a lantern said park-goers “feel sudden cold chills on hot
summer nights as they walk over the mass burials. Others have seen
shadowy figures in the trees that vanish when approached.”
14
“This is nothing but death all around here,” another ghost hunter
affiliated with NYC Ghosts told a YouTube show. “Is it haunted?
Absolutely. I mean there has got to be those spirits and energy that’s
still here.”
Certainly, Washington Square Park’s history is teeming with stories that
would send a shiver down anyone’s spine.
Although the city planned to bury just 5,000 bodies in the park, they
were forced to quadruple capacity when four yellow fever epidemics
ravaged New York in the summers of 1797, 1798, 1801 and 1803.
More than 200 years ago, Washington Square Park was a potter's field,
where the bodies of poor and unidentified New Yorkers were
unceremoniously dumped in mass graves. 14
More than 200 years ago, Washington Square Park was a potter’s field,
where the bodies of poor and unidentified New Yorkers were
unceremoniously dumped in mass graves. Department of Design and Construction
Washington Square Park in 1889 during a celebration for the centennial
of George Washington’s inauguration. After it became a public park in
1825, the dead bodies beneath were forgotten. 14
Washington Square Park in 1889 during a celebration for the centennial
of George Washington’s inauguration. After it became a public park in
1825, the dead bodies beneath were largely forgotten. Getty Images
A circa 1790 portrait of Founding Father (and New York Post-founder)
Alexander Hamilton, who opposed the development of a potter's field near
his then country home. 14
A circa 1790 portrait of Founding Father (and New York Post-founder)
Alexander Hamilton, who opposed the development of a potter’s field near
his then country home. Getty Images
Yellow fever must have made the city look like real-life zombies had
taken over the streets. At first, sufferers experienced fevers, chills,
vomiting and body aches. A few days later, the serious symptoms kicked
in: yellowed skin, jaundiced eyeballs, vomiting of black bile and
ultimately organ failure. The disease claimed the lives of up to 60% of
those infected.
The 350-year-old “hangman’s elm” (near right), which still stands at the
park’s northwest entrance, was said to have been used by Marquis de
Lafayette to execute 20 horseback thieves. 14
The 350-year-old “hangman’s elm” (near right), which still stands at the
park’s northwest entrance, was said to have been used by Marquis de
Lafayette to execute 20 horseback thieves. Alamy
While exact death tolls are lacking, thousands of locals are known to
have succumbed to this horrific fate. The city wanted to keep infected
bodies as far away from the bustle of daily life as possible. So, in
1799, a mandate was passed, requiring all plague victims — no matter
what their means — be buried out of sight in the potter’s field, which
at the time was nothing but farmland.
New York Post founder Alexander Hamilton was less than pleased when he
heard a potter’s field was being set up near his country home in the
area. He and several dozen neighbors flooded the local council with
petitions, complaints and counterproposals against the move. They even
offered to buy another plot of land for the potter’s field and gift it
to the city. But their efforts proved fruitless.
Many say the ghost of Lafayette, a noted Revolutionary War commander,
can sometimes be seen watching his hanging victims at night. 14
Many say the ghost of Lafayette, a noted Revolutionary War commander,
can sometimes be seen watching his hanging victims at night. Getty Images
Overworked grave diggers stacked bodies on top of one another. And some
claim they didn’t bury them deep enough.
“The earth would give way, and before you know it, you would bump into
somebody’s coffin or grave or skeleton and smash the bones,” said
another ghost enthusiast on YouTube. “People began to notice after a
while. The ghosts were out at night looking for their missing body parts.”
A jumble of coffins for both adults and children were found in 2015,
when workers laying down water pipes found two massive underground rooms
in the northeast portion of the park. 14
A jumble of coffins for both adults and children were found in 2015,
when workers laying down water pipes discovered two massive underground
rooms in the northeast portion of the park.
But even after the park was filled way beyond its subterranean capacity,
it continued to be a hellscape. The city wasn’t just hauling in dead New
Yorkers to be buried there — they also brought them there to die.
Some believe the so-called hangman’s elm — a 350-year-old tree near the
northwestern entrance to the park — was once used to execute criminals.
It’s rumored that Marquis de Lafayette, the Revolutionary War commander,
hung 20 horseback robbers from its branches.
Locals claim the Marquis de Lafayette can be seen to this day, dressed
in 18th century garb, watching his victims swing from the elm, satisfied
that justice was served.
A 2009 shot of the excavation work to exhume and protect the bodies
discovered in Washington Park’s potters field. 14
A 2009 shot of the excavation work to exhume and protect the bodies
discovered in Washington Square Park’s potters field.
“The hangman’s tree has always been a legend in the park,” New York City
urban archeologist Joan Geismar told The Post. “These sorts of stories
come out all the time, but we don’t know if there’s a basis for them.”
One hanging that did happen in the park was at a gallows constructed
near where the fountain sits today. In 1818, 19-year-old slave Rose
Butler was executed for reportedly attempting to burn down her master’s
home while the family was sleeping. Nobody was killed, and damage was
done to just a few stairs in the kitchen. Nonetheless, Butler was still
hanged for the crime and buried in the field. To this day, some claim to
see her in the park as well.
A close-up of the skeletal remains unexpectedly found during a water
main excavation. 14
A close-up of the skeletal remains unexpectedly found during a water
main excavation. Department of Design and Construction
“She is the last person to be hung in Washington Square, and she’s been
seen swinging in the breeze on stormy night,” according to a local ghost
watcher. “They say that the reason ghosts exist and why they haunt
people is because they died under very tragic, very awful situations,
and this is the perfect place for that.”
Although a vaccination for yellow fever, which was found to be
transmitted through mosquitoes rather than person-to-person, wasn’t
invented until the 1930s, the wave that spread through New York at the
turn of the 19th century eventually fizzled out.
‘This is nothing but death all around here. Is it haunted?
Absolutely … spirits and energy that’s still here.’
A ghost hunter on spooky Washington Square Park
In 1825, New York Mayor Philip Hone declared the former potter’s field a
public park. The following year, it was rechristened Washington Square
Park during a boisterous party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
signing of the Declaration of Independence. Eventually, the bodies below
the surface were largely forgotten.
Then, in 1965, Con Edison maintenance workers sinking a shaft into the
ground got a shock when they penetrated the roof of an underground
chamber filled with around two dozen skeletons.
After years of disruption under the park left many skeletons in
shambles, the fragments of the dead were reinterred in 2021. A memorial
to them can be seen on a nearby sidewalk. 14
After years of disruption under the park left many skeletons in
shambles, the fragments of the dead were reinterred in 2021. A memorial
to them can be seen on a nearby sidewalk. NYC Parks/Daniel Avila
At the time, Con Ed contractor Abraham Marcus told the New York Times he
was surprised by the bones. He also took a jab at the hippies who
frequented the park, saying: “I have seen some skeletons walking around
that part with sandals on.”
Eventually the city called in archaeologists to dig up the full truth of
what lay underground.
“The question was were there any graves left. And the answer was yes
there were,” Geismar told The Post.
An engraved inscription at the park’s southern entrance honors the
reinterred remains found there between 2008 and 2017. 14
An engraved inscription at the park’s southern entrance honors the
reinterred remains found there between 2008 and 2017. NYC Parks/Daniel Avila
In 2013, she excavated a tiny fraction of the park and found more than a
hundred bone fragments from at least eight different people — two women,
one male and a 7-year-old child, likely all of European ancestry. The
other genders could not be identified.
“Even though we weren’t digging where I wanted to dig based on my
research, we found so much,” Geismar said. “That’s the interesting thing
about archaeology in New York City. We only really dig where there’s
going to be disturbance. We don’t choose our sites, and yet we find so
much. The act of discovery is just so exciting.”
James Jackson’s 1799 tombstone was unearthed with the help of urban
archeologist Joan Geismar, who called the finding of a relatively
wealthy man’s grave in a potter’s plot “shocking.” 14
James Jackson’s 1799 tombstone was unearthed with the help of urban
archeologist Joan Geismar, who called the finding of a relatively
wealthy man’s grave in a potter’s plot “shocking.” Joan H. Geismar
Another archaeologist was on site in 2015, when workers laying down
water pipes found two massive underground rooms in the northeast portion
of the park, where churchyards once stood. Although both rooms were
sealed by locked wooden doors, scientists slipped camera probes inside
to find a bunch of coffins tossed about, some child-size. On one adult
coffin, an inscription was etched onto a metal name plate identifying
its owner as William.
The people laid to rest in these catacomb-like crypts died around 1800
and were not necessarily yellow fever victims, but likely congregants of
the nearby Cedar or Pearl Street Presbyterian churches, according to
archaeologist Alyssa Loorya.
“The question was were there any graves left,” explains Geismar, “and
the answer was yes there were.” 14
“The question was were there any graves left,” explains Geismar, “and
the answer was yes there were.” Courtesy of Joan H. Geismar
Centuries of digging, disruptions and construction under the park have
left many skeletons in shambles. Just last March, the Parks Department
reburied unidentified fragmentary human remains at a new resting spot
five feet below a flower bed near the corner of Sullivan Street and
Washington Square South. A small memorial acknowledgement is inscribed
on the nearby sidewalk.
In 2009, Joan Geismar’s team also made a discovery that changed how
historians look at the park: a tombstone belonging to James Jackson, a
28-year-old Irish-born New Yorker who died in 1799.
It might not seem much to us now, but back in Jackson’s day, you had to
be of reasonable means to afford the luxury of a gravestone. A potter’s
field burial was an unlikely outcome for him. But Jackson died of yellow
fever just weeks after the city’s mandate that all plague victims be
buried in the potter’s field, so that’s where he ended up.
Curious locals and tourists can discover Washington Square Park's
ghoulish history for themselves on nightly tours organized by NYC Ghosts. 14
Curious locals and tourists can discover Washington Square Park’s
ghoulish history for themselves on nightly tours. Shutterstock/Jon Bilous
“The tombstone of James Jackson changed the entire concept of the
potter’s field,” said Geismar. “Obviously he was a man who wasn’t meant
to be buried there. It wasn’t just a potter’s field. That was
unbelievably shocking.”
Plans are now underway to restore Jackson’s headstone and move it to the
park’s field house, where it will be on display in the window, according
to the Landmarks Preservations Commission.
Geismar said that what (and who) lurks beneath our feet is worth
remembering.
What do you think? Be the first to comment.
“It should give us perspective. We blindly go walking down the sidewalks
of New York, but what we see now isn’t what it used to be. People were
here before, and the archeological record is there if you take the
trouble to read it.”
And, especially at Halloween time, the park’s bodies — and its legends —
can serve as a warning, too.
“In the event of a zombie apocalypse,” Nigro advises in her blog post,
“you now know one area to especially avoid.”
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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