INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Department of Public Works announced Tuesday that human remains and grave shafts were found while preparing for the Henry Street Bridge construction on the near west side of Indianapolis.
The discoveries were made in late October and shared with the Henry Street Community Advisory Group (CAG), according to city officials.
While preparing to start archaeological excavation east of the White River, Stantec – Indy DPW's archeology consultant – found 15 grave shafts. These discoveries were made three to four feet below ground. They also identified a "possible footstone" and a headstone base for a total of seven monument pieces.
Officials said the construction team is using a "trench stabilization shoring system" to excavate safely.
The team was in the process of installing the shoring stabilization system when the grave shafts were found. Due to the grave shafts being found at a shallow depth, city officials said shoring work was stopped to allow for exhumation of the remains.
Trained bioarcheologists and archaeologists will remove the area above and around each grave shaft by hand, officials said. Once all of the human remains are exposed, the remains will be exhumed and sent to Dr. Jeremy Wilson’s lab at Indiana University Indianapolis for analysis.
“One of the many goals of the archaeological team and the CAG is to restore the identities of the individuals interred in this cemetery and to start understanding their place in the city’s history. Uncovering objects like footstones with initials are vital to these efforts as they provide us with a starting point for genealogical research. This research, coupled with archaeological and osteological data, will bring us closer to realizing this goal,” said Dr. Brooke Drew, an archaeologist on the Stantec team.
The excavation process is supposed to last until spring 2025.
AES Indiana was preparing to install a subsurface utility line when their crews also found human remains, city officials said. While prepping for horizontal directional drilling, crews opened two pits north and south of the Henry Street. While excavating the north pit, officials said archeologists found at least two grave shafts, including skeletal remains, buttons, a coffin and coffin hardware. Three graves were also identified in the south pit. City officials said all of these discoveries were made four feet below ground.
Wilson will also conduct an analysis for these remains.
"For more than a year, city officials have been meeting with concerned community members regarding the site of the Henry Street Bridge and its approaches," the DPW Public Information Office said in a news release. "The Henry Street right of way east of the river occupies a portion of the city’s first cemetery, a collection of four long-abandoned cemeteries often referred to collectively as Greenlawn Cemetery."
The Henry Street Bridge will connect downtown to the near west side of Indianapolis and Elanco’s new global headquarters. It will extend over the White River between Washington and Oliver streets.
The bridge's total cost is more than $40 million and its expected to be completed in 2026.
