From the 10/18/2005 Jeffersonville Evening News (Clark Co., IN): Downtown park to be checked for Civil War gravesites By LARRY THOMAS, City Editor, Evening News Archaeological work in Jeffersonville's Colston Park on Wednesday could determine whether old graves are close to the Indiana approach to the proposed downtown Ohio River bridge. In August, instruments such as ground-penetrating radar indicated disturbances in the soil in the western part of the park, indicating the possibility of grave shafts there, said Jeff Vlach, environmental commitments manager with Community Transportation Solutions. "We're going to do some mechanical excavating ... to confirm or deny the existence of graves," Vlach said Monday. A historical marker at the park indicates Confederate and Union soldiers buried there were not moved before the park was founded in 1920, but U.S. government records state the human remains were moved. The grounds were used as a city cemetery as early as 1807, according to the Ohio River Bridges Project Web site. The proposed bridge approach will not take any part of the old cemetery, but state law requires that disturbances within 100 feet of cemeteries include plans to mitigate encroachment. Vlach, whose company is managing the Ohio River Bridges Project, said the August survey "just showed variations in the soil density that indicated that there might be grave shafts." Evening News Contact: Larry Thomas at lthomas@news-tribune.net SO YOU KNOW: Beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, archaeologists will search for grave sites at Colston Park in Jeffersonville. A portion of the park once served as a Civil War and city cemetery, dating to 1807. If graves are found within 100 feet of the proposed Indiana approach to the downtown Ohio River bridge, an encroachment plan must be created to mitigate the bridge's impact on the cemetery. For more information, visit the Bridges Web site at http://www.kyinbridges.com ================================= FROM http://www.kyinbridges.com: BRIDGES PROJECT STUDIES FORMER CIVIL WAR CEMETERY On Tuesday, Aug. 30, consultants working on the Ohio River Bridges Project initiated an archaeology study to determine if there are any burial remains at Colston Park, a former Civil War and city cemetery in downtown Jeffersonville. Although the Bridges Project will not take any part of the cemetery, Indiana law mandates that disturbances within 100 feet of a cemetery require the preparation of a development plan to address the encroachment. "This study is very important to ensure that any project work does not disturb any existing remains at Colston Park. Our goal, and the goal of Indiana and Kentucky officials, is to minimize the impact of the Bridges Project on historic resources in the community," commented Jeff Vlach, Environmental Commitments Manager with Community Transportation Solutions (CTS-GEC), the General Engineering Consultant on the Bridges Project. A historical marker at the park describes the cemetery and indicates that the buried Confederate and Union soldiers were not moved before the area became a park in 1920. United States government records contradict that, however, and denote that the bodies were moved. Also, local records indicate that the area served as a city cemetery as early as 1807. Thus, further study to delineate the western boundary of the cemetery is needed. The consultants used above-ground, non-invasive instruments that employ magnetic and electrical resistivity methodology to determine if there are grave shafts. The instruments detect soil that has been removed and replaced because it is not as compact, or dense, as the soil surrounding it. Colston Park is located just east of I-65 and north of Market St. in downtown Jeffersonville. It can be accessed at the intersection of Mulberry and W. Chestnut streets. Historic preservation personnel from CTS-GEC are overseeing the investigation. Consultants from the ASC Group, Inc., and Ohio Valley Archaeology Consultants, Ltd., cultural resource management firms based in Ohio, will be executing the field studies. The project team is coordinating this effort with the City of Jeffersonville and historic preservation officials with the Indiana Historic Preservation Office, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). The Bridges Project public involvement effort includes Historic Preservation Advisory Teams in each state. Project team members meet with the groups regularly to review project work and ensure that historic mitigation measures are being addressed properly.