Imagine showing up to work in construction and unknowingly uncovering dozens of human remains? Unfortunately for some contract workers in Charleston, South Carolina, this was a reality.

The construction workers made quite the discovery while working on The Citadel’s Johnson Hagood Stadium back in May: a graveyard likely dating back to the 1800s, per the university’s website.

Charleston Construction Project Uncovers Historic Graveyard

According to The Post and Courier, the recent digging revealed over 50 unmarked graves. This isn’t entirely unexpected, however, seeing as the military college’s stadium was built in 1927 on Tower Hill Cemetery, where over 26,000 people were buried. 

In fact, a city ordinance was put in place in 2004 for this very reason, when even more graves (over 300) were uncovered during yet another athletic field construction project. 

The military college, which bought the stadium in the 1960s, will follow that 2004 plan.

“Upon the discovery, The Citadel immediately activated the construction project’s previously established historic preservation plan, halted work in the affected area, and coordinated with the archaeological consultant and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO),” The Citadel’s website reports. “Based on their guidance, and following a 2004 City of Charleston ordinance regarding the exhuming and reinterment of remains uncovered during construction at Johnson Hagood Stadium, The Citadel will reinter and memorialize any remains in an expanded, protected area on the south side of the Stadium.”

Other construction areas for this project do not appear to have additional gravesites, per The Citadel’s archaeological consultant.

“We understand the deep importance of historic remains to the Charleston community and, with the City, will engage with the broader community on this topic,” Jonathan Hoffman, Vice President of Communications and Marketing at The Citadel, said in a statement. “We will continue to follow archaeological best practices and guidance provided by the State Historic Preservation Office and coordinate with various stakeholders throughout this project and future construction activities.”

More About Tower Hill Cemetery

According to the Charleston City Paper, at Tower Hill Cemetery, “about 23,000 to 26,000 orphans, the poor, free and enslaved people, immigrants, seamen, and Confederate soldiers were interred in unmarked graves.”

Julie Bowling, a volunteer researcher, told the paper, “‘The only place where you can find equality is in the cemetery,’” quoting American humorist Evan Esar. “That, of course, is utter nonsense.” 

She also noted that “those who actually built our city—the enslaved, the immigrants, the workers—lie under buildings, bleachers, and parking lots.” Meanwhile, the paper noted, Charleston’s “elite” were gifted luxurious burials.