In February of 2019, during the excavation of a construction site on Courtland Street in Lake George, New York, a series of human remains were found, both in the excavated soil and the adjacent undisturbed earth. Local officials were notified, who quickly sought the assistance of a partnership of stakeholders to help address the findings.
Following a weeklong collaborative effort between local, state and private entities, more than a dozen sets of human remains were safely and respectfully recovered from the remaining undisturbed earth, each one being carefully removed from his distinct yet disturbed grave shaft. For a period of two years following the February 2019 discovery, over a hundred volunteers lent countless hours to assist in the proper recovery of the remains that were still within the excavated stockpile, amounting to another estimated two dozen (or more) sets of remains.
Since the recovery has been completed, staff at the New York State Museum has been carefully analyzing and cataloging the recovered remains, and there have been several presentations and a scholarly journal article published on the discovery. It is believed what was found was the site of a cemetery associated with the Continental Army’s smallpox hospital established in 1776 at nearby Fort George. This constitutes one of modern history’s most important archaeological findings to date in Lake George.
