6 more graves possible at Maumee subdivision

4/20/2005

As many as six more graves may be at the former Miami Children's Home property at 2500 River Rd. in Maumee where buried remains were found Thursday by construction crews clearing the way for an upscale subdivision, authorities said.

"Analysis of the electromagnetic and ground-penetrating radar data collected at the property [Monday] indicates there are possibly six more burials in the 15-square-meter area adjacent to where the original burial was discovered," Dr. James Patrick, Lucas County coroner, said yesterday.

The coroner's office notified the property owner and Maumee and Lucas County officials, Dr. Patrick said. Resolution of the matter rests with them, he said.

Representatives of the developer, CSB Investors, could not be reached for comment.

The subdivision, called Riverside Commons, will include housing units that will cost from $350,000 to $750,000.

On Friday, Maumee police turned up documents at Bowling Green State University that there was a cemetery at the site, first opened as the Protestant Orphan's Home by a group of Toledo philanthropists in 1867. The county took ownership in 1890, renaming the facility the Lucas County Children's Home. It later was known as the Miami Children's Center.

That same day, forensic anthropologists concluded that bones uncovered at a construction site are probably the 100-year-old remains of an African-American adult woman.

Detective Nick Foels said he and two other detectives examined orphanage records that date back more than a century.

While they were researching, an archival worker told police of a book cataloging Ohio cemeteries compiled in 2003 by the Ohio Genealogical Society. Besides references to Riverside and St. Joseph cemeteries in Maumee, they found in that book an entry that reads an "unnamed cemetery on the grounds of the former Miami Children's Home."