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Old Roxborough Poor House Burial Ground

Also known as Old Roxborough Potter's Field , Old Roxborough Alms House Burial Ground , Manayunk Poor House Burial Ground

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

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  • Get directions West Salaignac Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19128, United States
    Coordinates: 40.02164, -75.21076
  • This cemetery is marked as being historical or removed.
  • No longer accepting burials
  • Cemetery ID: 2781536

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Before the year 1832, the poor in the township of Roxborough had been boarded out in local homes. But as the number of poor increased, the township established a poor house in the old Plow Tavern on June 15, 1833 and purchased 21 acres of land for a self-sufficient poor farm.

On that property, on the corner below what is known locally as "Bucky's Hill," the Roxborough Directors of the Poor established a potter's field for the burial of its indigent dead. The burial ground was laid out in a boulder-strewn ravine or hollow where cultivation was impossible.

In 1847, the Borough of Manayunk was formed out of Roxborough Township, and for a time, until Roxborough established a new Poor House on Livezy's Mill Road (now Henry Avenue), Roxborough's poor were boarded here in what became, after the division, the Manayunk Poor House.

Following the Consolidation Act of 1854, in which the townships in Philadelphia County were consolidated into the City and County of Philadelphia, the old poor house was vested in the City, closed, and sold in 1859. The old poor house was demolished in 1901. Long neglected and unused for over half a century, in 1907, the ravine and the old burial ground were buried under hundreds of tons of earth, ashes, and refuse to level out the ground for building purposes.

In the late 1920s, after the land was subdivided, about 15 skeletons were found during residential construction activities. Later, in 1953, two more skeletons were found during excavations on Salaignac Street and were removed to the City Morgue.

The site today is wooded and largely occupied by housing.

Before the year 1832, the poor in the township of Roxborough had been boarded out in local homes. But as the number of poor increased, the township established a poor house in the old Plow Tavern on June 15, 1833 and purchased 21 acres of land for a self-sufficient poor farm.

On that property, on the corner below what is known locally as "Bucky's Hill," the Roxborough Directors of the Poor established a potter's field for the burial of its indigent dead. The burial ground was laid out in a boulder-strewn ravine or hollow where cultivation was impossible.

In 1847, the Borough of Manayunk was formed out of Roxborough Township, and for a time, until Roxborough established a new Poor House on Livezy's Mill Road (now Henry Avenue), Roxborough's poor were boarded here in what became, after the division, the Manayunk Poor House.

Following the Consolidation Act of 1854, in which the townships in Philadelphia County were consolidated into the City and County of Philadelphia, the old poor house was vested in the City, closed, and sold in 1859. The old poor house was demolished in 1901. Long neglected and unused for over half a century, in 1907, the ravine and the old burial ground were buried under hundreds of tons of earth, ashes, and refuse to level out the ground for building purposes.

In the late 1920s, after the land was subdivided, about 15 skeletons were found during residential construction activities. Later, in 1953, two more skeletons were found during excavations on Salaignac Street and were removed to the City Morgue.

The site today is wooded and largely occupied by housing.

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  • Added: 12 Jul 2023
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2781536