Human Remains Found In Wash Square Park Reburied Near Entrance

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — The NYC Parks Department on Tuesday reburied human remains of early New Yorkers found in Washington Square Park between 2008 and 2017.

The human remains were placed in a wooden box and buried within a planting bed in the park that now has an engravement to mark the site near Sullivan Street and the Washington Square Park South entrance.

The Green-Wood Cemetery volunteered its services for the excavation, which was overseen by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission's Director of Archaeology.

"Today we honor these individuals and acknowledge Washington Square Park's history as a final resting place for thousands of early New Yorkers," said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, in a news release. "We are so grateful to our colleagues at Green-Wood Cemetery and the Landmarks Preservation Commission for their expertise and guidance on this important project."

All the remains found were fragmentary, meaning that forensic analysis could not yield extensive details about the individuals.

Washington Square Park was built in the 1850s, but from 1797 to 1825, the space was used as a burial ground for thousands of people — including the unidentified, the indigent, and those who died of yellow fever, according to NYC Parks.