SANTA FE – Construction of a new Santa Fe retirement community continues as the project awaits approval of testing connected to recently discovered graves.
Developers of the future La Secoya de El Castillo retirement community are waiting for results around additional graves on what is presumed to be part of an old cemetery, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
The space where the burial sites were unearthed is “completely out of the construction area” of the future La Secoya de El Castillo retirement community, said Colleen Gavin, principal at JenkinsGavin Inc., a Santa Fe-based development management firm.
“In some ways, the stars aligned and where this was discovered was outside of our building footprint,” Gavin said. “We are 100% moving forward with this project.”
A portion of the property under construction has long been suspected to include graves associated with what was once one of the largest 19th-century cemeteries in Santa Fe.
The Masons and Odd Fellows Cemetery, which was incorporated by the Territorial Legislature in 1853, is the earliest non-Catholic burial ground in Santa Fe.
“The graves encountered so far are those expected for a cemetery laid out almost exclusively for the members of the fraternal orders and their families,” according to the testing plan, which was approved by the city’s Archaeological Review Committee on April 23 and is now awaiting state approval.
“This section of the cemetery encountered appears to have included mostly adult males, laid out in an orderly row, mostly in coffins, some of which may reflect the status of the men as being prominent in their communities and of some means,” the plan states.
The plan notes the uncovered remains include men who “are not of advanced age, and who may even have been subjected to post-burial cremation,” indicating people buried there in the late 19th century “included those who died prematurely, and possibly as the result of infectious disease.”
The cemetery had been condemned by 1900, five years after “the removal of burials began,” and remains were moved to other cemeteries.
“The condemnation of the cemetery had much to do with its dilapidated condition, and the intense push to beautify the Territorial Capital for the fast approaching new century,” the plan states.
“Attention is being called to the dilapidated and disgraceful condition of the old cemetery in the rear of the federal building,” The New Mexican reported July 12, 1899. “The adobe wall is crumbling, several gravestones have been dragged around, and burros browse among the weeds that cover the ground. The cemetery might be turned into a beautiful park or else cultivated to advantage.”
By 1903, the plan states, “the allowance of time for the removal of bodies ended, and presumably, all remaining grave locations were lost.”
Archaeological testing performed in the area in 2019 didn’t turn up any graves. But the discovery of human remains and other deposits during construction three months ago initiated the additional testing.
A preliminary review revealed construction activities had partially exposed at least three graves. The existence of three more graves was discovered a day or two later.
The discovery of coffin handles, glass fragments and other coffin hardware indicates at least one of the coffins exposed by a backhoe “was elaborately constructed, with a viewer’s window typical of late 19th century coffin manufacture,” the testing plan states.
But until the state approves the testing plan, questions about the site remain unanswered.
“Right now, we haven’t touched a thing,” Gavin said. “But as soon as we do have the permit from the state and we can proceed with the testing, that area will be roped off so that (archaeologist Alysia Abbott) can come in and do her work without any disturbance from the construction, and the construction will continue.”
