Court House Grounds & Park

Court House Grounds and Park. . , On June 28, 1790, Jonathan Arnold donated the land now occupied by the courthouse and park to the "South Parish" of the Village of St. Johnsbury for use as a "Buryal Ground." , By 1855 the burial ground had fallen into disrepair. Families started transferring their dead to the newer Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. St. Johnsbury's 1856 designation as the Shire Town of Caledonia County required the construction of a County Courthouse. Thus, arrangements were made to transfer all human remains that were still in the old cemetery. The original grant was also changed to read: "The piece of ground in said village heretofore used for a burying ground and from which the bodies interred there have recently been removed for the purpose of having erected thereon a Court House.” , In 1994, a decision was made to build an addition to the courthouse. Archeological investigations were conducted to ensure that no remaining bodies would be disturbed by the proposed construction. During studies from 1994 to 2000, 144 grave shafts were discovered and excavated and 28 full skeletons were exhumed. Of these only nine were adults. The remaining 19 were children and infants. Following scientific analysis, the remains were reburied in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery next to those who had been moved in the 1850’s. This memorial honors this early cemetery and those that were buried here.