City Releases Final Discovery Report on 1857 Manchester Municipal Cemetery
Remains of 742 discovered using non-invasive methods
Richmond, VA – The City of Richmond has released the results from a site study conducted on the City-owned property at 2313 Wise Street, the location of a substation operated by the Department of Public Utilities since 1930.
The study, commissioned by the City earlier this year, involved the use of non-invasive ground penetrating radar to verify the presence of burial remains on the site, which is believed to have been used as a cemetery for both private citizens as well as deceased soldiers from area military hospitals during the Civil War.
The final results, researched and assembled by TerraSearch, an independent geophysical surveying firm, identified at least 742 potential unmarked graves on the property. Of those 742, 472 are considered "probable" internments and 270 are deemed "possible." The report adds that, while comprehensive, its findings are "not likely to represent all potential graves" due to the site's dense burial pattern. It also concludes that graves may extend beyond the property into adjacent lots to the north, west, and east.
In consultation with historians and appropriate officials at the state and local levels, the City is developing an access plan to the site which would allow visitation to descendants of those believed to have been interred there and to others interested in genealogical research. Once finalized, that plan will be announced and available on the City's website.
Background
The property at 2313 Wise Street has been owned and operated by the City of Richmond since 1930 and is the site of a gas booster facility constructed in 1931 and operated by the Department of Public Utilities.
The site, which does not include any marked graves, includes a memorial marker placed in 1939 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy which honors "more than 100 South Carolina Soldiers" who died in a hospital across the street and are believed to have been buried on the Wise Street site. A review of historical documents suggests that the site was used as a cemetery by the City of Manchester beginning in 1857 and was used for wartime burials from 1861-1862.
Although research of period appropriate maps and documentation provides some measure of evidence that the site was used as a burial ground for Confederate soldiers, there are no definitive records of wartime burials or postwar removals. In the absence of conclusive information, the City chose to commission a study of the site to confirm the presence or absence of burial remains.
