Ground scans show ‘possible’ grave sites at 106 Coming St.

MORNING HEADLINES | A redacted report on ground-penetrating radar (GPR) scans at 106 Coming St., the site of the College of Charleston’s proposed dormitory, refers to “potential” and “possible” grave shafts at the property.

Plans for the dorm to house 1,000 students at the site have raised some community concerns because the property is a former 18^th-century burial ground where thousands of poor Whites, orphaned children and enslaved people are believed to be buried.

The scans show multiple underground utilities, structures and possible grave shafts, according to the highly technical 59-page report prepared by the college’s geology professor M. Scott Harris.

This survey makes the point “concretely” that 24 anomalies can be interpreted as possible graves, Harris wrote.

“Because excavations have not been conducted, some features are generally identified, but many remain unknown,” Harris wrote. “All identification is speculative until excavated.”

The college responds

In a statement, the college said it “has been working toward learning more about what’s underground since the second round of GPR work was conducted in February. The college is analyzing the thorough report provided by Professor Scott Harris.” A third round of GPR scans is planned.

“It is important to note that archaeologists would need to excavate to verify any subsoil disturbance,” according to the statement.

In February, Harris towed a low-power GPR scanner behind a pickup truck over the asphalt and gravel parking lots that surrounded a building on the site that was once the headquarters of YWCA of Greater Charleston. The college has since demolished the building, and it plans to remove the asphalt sometime after Oct. 25, the college spokesperson has said.

Celebrating of ancestors

A year ago, the college formed a Community Engagement Council (CEC) that meets regularly with college officials to discuss community concerns. CEC members can only view the unredacted report in the office of the college’s president Andrew Hus after they sign a nondisclosure agreement, a member of the CEC said.

A CEC member, who didn’t want to be named, said the report “reaffirms the fact that this was a burial ground and the archeological specs of this should impact decisions that are being made about the site and its size.”

After CEC members review the report, the CEC members said “it will probably raise more questions about what needs to be done before there is any disturbance at the site.” The CEC meets Nov. 14.

The CES members have said they want to see an unredacted report and an unaltered copy of the scans without limits. The CES member said the group was told recently the restrictions are required to protect the site from being pilfered by treasurer hunters.

The college and a Burial Ground Commemoration and Memorialization Task Force is scheduled to hold at the site beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. “A Celebration of Ancestors Unknown but Not Forgotten” will include the pouring of a libation, drumming, singing, dancing, reflections, prayers and a repast with selected cuisines of the ancestors, according to the college’s website.

The Preservation Society of Charleston (PSC) has monitored the college’s plans to build Coming Street Commons.

In a statement, the PSC said, Harris’ report gives “a preview of how complex and expensive it will be to excavate a public burial ground. There is little evidence that the remains now proposed for removal have been disturbed since the cemetery was filled completely by 1807.

“Given that this project is virtually unprecedented in the sheer scale of human remains proposed for displacement, it is appropriate for the community to continue to ask critical questions of the College and other public officials about the process,” the PSC said. —Herb Frazier

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