Graves Found at Valley Medical in SJ
Bodies dating back to 19th century found at Valley Medical construction
site.
By
Kim Tere, KNTV
| Wednesday, May
16, 2012 | Updated 6:29 AM PDT
Construction at a portion of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has stopped in San Jose because crews have unearthed pine boxes filled with the bodies of people, whose families couldn't afford their proper burials, NBC Bay Area has learned.
Santa
Clara County counsel Michael Rossi said Tuesday that the pine boxes date back
to between 1875 and 1935, and were discovered in February when construction
crews were doing seismic work.
He
said the county had no idea there was a cemetery on the property.
"It’s
a potter’s field or a pauper’s graveyard. Between 1875 and 1935 at Valley
Medical Center, people who died indigent, whose families couldn’t be found were
buried at this site," Rossi said.
There
are as many as 1,445 bodies on the site. The county filed a petition with the
court to get permission to remove at least 100 of the pine coffins to make room
for construction.
The
county is looking into hiring an archaeologist who specializes in this type of
find, Rossi said.
If anything identifiable is found, Rossi said they would publish the information in the newspaper to give family time to claim the remains.
After
that, the county will ask the court's permission to dispose of the bodies
accordance to law.
In a county map from 1932, the cemetery is marked, but by 1958 there was no indication it existed. By 1966, there was an employee parking lot on top of the cemetery.
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