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city responded by passing a bill that year banning any graveyard burials within the city boundaries of the time and in the North
Graveyard, though it was repealed about a month later. The area was annexed into the city in 1862, further increasing expectations for the graveyard's closure or removal. In 1864, the Green Lawn Cemetery Association proposed that lot owners at the North Cemetery could exchange those with Green Lawn lots, with any remains transferred; the association would eventually lease the North Graveyards spaces to provide income for the cemetery. The offer was taken up by many lot owners, and allowed the city to unanimously pass a new ordinance in 1864 prohibiting any further burials in the graveyard.
281:, located across High Street from the graveyard and built in 1850. It planned for a new station, and the railroads sued the city in order to gain access to land used by the graveyard to expand their rail corridor, with claims that the land was left unmaintained and that the 1864 prohibition on burials ended lot owners' "right of easement". In 1872, a Franklin County court ordered an appointed master commissioner to obtain lots in Green Lawn Cemetery and move all still present Doherty tract remains to the new cemetery. In total, 329 graves were removed at a cost of $ 2,000, well under the approximately $ 14,000 paid by the railroad to the city for the land.
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Addition. Most of the graves had been removed privately, but some remained when the city condemned the land in 1889 in order to widen Spruce Street. A thorough job was made in removals, but it was impossible for workers at the time to find every grave on the site. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 graves were moved from the 1850s to the 1880s. An 1885 city council resolution instructed the city's civil engineer to look into rumors that bodies there were being found during excavations. More remains were found in 1913.
249:, one of Columbus's original four proprietors, was to execute a deed giving ownership of the property to Columbus. He did not, and thus the graveyard remained in private hands until 1821. Kerr, by then owner of the property, conveyed the land to the mayor and Borough of Columbus for $ 1 on June 6, 1821. In 1824, the council provided for the appointment of a sexton, to manage the grounds and dig graves, thus formalizing the operation of the graveyard.
330:. An report written before excavation estimated there could be between 142 and 523 graves with remains still at the site. By February 2023, archaeologists had discovered the buried remains of more than 40 people in the site, with more likely to be found. All discovered remains will be reburied at Green Lawn Cemetery. The R Section of the cemetery, county-owned and used for North Graveyard reburials since the 1800s, was marked with an artwork named
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At its greatest extent, the cemetery had 11 acres. The northern limit of the cemetery was at Spruce Street, where a narrow buggy path existed. The east boundary was at High Street, the west at Park Street, and the south at the present-day railroad tracks. The
Brickell Addition, a 20-foot-wide strip,
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was annexed into
Columbus along with the rest of Franklinton in 1859. At one time called "the Grave Yard of the City of Columbus", a new graveyard opened on present-day Livingston Avenue in 1841. This became the South Graveyard, with the older site renamed the North Graveyard. The Catholic Cemetery
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In 2001, as part of a sewer project, the city hired archaeologists to excavate the cite, anticipating some remains. The archaeologists found 38 grave shafts under Spruce and Wall streets, finding the remains of 39 individuals, more than what the city expected. The archaeologists' report noted that
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Clearing of the original portion, the John Kerr tract, took place from
November to December 2, 1881. Most named graves had already been removed; the 867 removed in 1881 were nearly all unknown, and over half were children. After this point, the only remaining part of the graveyard was the Brickell
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In the 1850s, some residents owning lots at the graveyard decided to have their relatives' remains exhumed and reburied in Green Lawn
Cemetery. These voluntary removals happened at a slow rate. In 1856, city residents petitioned the city council to prevent further interments in the graveyard. The
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opened in the following year, summer 1849. In the 1850s, some residents supported the graveyard's continued maintenance and improvements, while others wanted it closed to future interments or completely abandoned. The north and west sides of the graveyard were improved with a tight board fence in
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opened in 1846; these two new cemeteries relieved pressure to expand the North
Graveyard. An addition called the Brickell Addition was the last expansion, after pioneer John Brickell's death in 1844.
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The graveyard site was at the southeast corner of present-day Park and Spruce streets, in a wooded and somewhat swampy area at the time of creation. It originally had 1.5 acres (0.61 ha).
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In the 20th and 21st century, construction projects have involved archaeological digs of portions of the site. Part of the cemetery site will house the
376:"Data Recovery Conducted at Impacted Locations Within the Former North Graveyard in the North Market District, City of Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio"
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hotel, the
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In the late 1970s, additional graves were discovered during a sidewalk project at North Market; the remains were relocated to Green Lawn.
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and was established in 1813, a year after the city was founded. Graves at the site were moved beginning in the 1850s into the 1880s.
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The graveyard was dedicated for use on July 2, 1813, a year after the city was founded. It originally had 1.5 acres.
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In 1876, a market house was built on part of the graveyard property; the market was a predecessor to today's
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In 1868, the Union Depot
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The cemetery was the only burial ground in
Columbus through the 1810s and 1820s; the 1799-established
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481:"North Graveyard in downtown Columbus to be excavated before Merchant Building constructed"
411:"North Market Redevelopment Forces Columbus to Confront the Saga of the North Graveyard"
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In summer 2022, further excavation began as part of the construction of the
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By 1848, City
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Notable Columbus residents originally buried at the graveyard included:
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Members of the prominent Deshler, Bryden, Buttles, and Parsons families
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Isaiah Vorys, Revolutionary War veteran who helped lay out the city
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was at the northwest corner of the cemetery. In the present day,
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Interactive map pinpointing the location of the burial ground
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317:North Market Historic District
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525:Cemeteries in Columbus, Ohio
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338:References
182:Attributes
90:83°00′14″W
87:39°58′19″N
485:WOSU News
247:John Kerr
211:John Kerr
64:Location
236:History
43:Details
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56:Closed
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