In Queen Village, kids are playing above a cemetery. Underneath the Weccacoe Playground, situated near 4th & Catharine, sits an African American burial ground that dates back to the 19th century. This summer, archaeologists from URS excavated part of the park on behalf of PHS in advance of planned renovations to the playground.
What they found through the Phase IB investigation were the remains of an estimated 5,000 people buried but two feet beneath the surface. Two days after Christmas, on December 27th, 1889, the City of Philadelphia took ownership of this land and rebranded it Weccacoe Square, according to the report. From circa 1810 to 1864 the land served as the Mother Bethel church’s burial ground. In the spring of 1810, Reverend Allen and church leaders paid $1,600 to Matthew and Hannah Waring for a square plot of land that fronted Queen St. between 4th and 5th, a 121-foot long plot, that totaled just over a quarter of an acre. It became the first privately owned non-churchyard black cemetery in the city, as the land was not attached to the church, the report said. In the 1900s, there was the Weccacoe School Garden, which was an urban farm 100 years ago.
At issue now is how to best commemorate the historical aspect of the burial ground and balance that with the current use as a playground and the plans to turn that playground into an updated stormwater management green space as well, Philly.com reported. That’s something the community has been working on for a number of years.
It is fascinating to see how the place where the dead were sent to rest has rejuvenated into a place where the living go to play. We will keep looking into this project to see when playground work will begin and if some sort of memorial might be part of that work.