Photograph by Chris Von Holle
Potter’s fields are mass public burial grounds where the unclaimed and destitute were buried unmarked and unconsecrated. Cincinnati is no stranger to the concept—Music Hall was built on top of one. You’ll find another one among the playgrounds and walking trails at Price Hill’s Rapid Run Park. According to Cincinnati Parks, more than 20,000 people were buried in this 26.38-acre site between 1852 and 1981, most of them too poor to afford proper burials or with no family to claim them. Deceased patients from Dunham Hospital were interred here en masse during outbreaks of Spanish flu, cholera, smallpox, and tuberculosis.
Over the years, the resting place has grown over and become littered with trash. “I drove over one day and walked through and saw what it looks like, which is deplorable,” says Mike Morgan, founder of the Potter’s Field Initiative. “I let it sink in how many thousands of people are buried in this lot of land that the city permits to be treated like a dumping ground.” Groups like the PFI are working with the Parks department to clean up the area and make it a peaceful resting place for years to come.
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