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First Baptist Church has a very long history in Philadelphia. The rediscovery of its 300-year-old cemetery raises plenty of questions

Founded in 1698, First Baptist Church of Philadelphia is one of the oldest churches in the country. A construction project at 2nd & Arch uncovered its colonial-era cemetery, begun in 1707.

The First Baptist Church cemetery plot at the Mount Moriah Historic Cemetery and Arboretum in Philadelphia on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.
The First Baptist Church cemetery plot at the Mount Moriah Historic Cemetery and Arboretum in Philadelphia on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer

When construction of a new apartment building at 218 Arch St. began in late 2016, workers digging the foundation began uncovering loose skeletal remains. As construction continued into 2017, more and more remains were found until PMC Property Group, the developer, hired a professional archaeology firm to remove buried remains in the footprint of the new building.

Philadelphia Orphans Court gave permission for a team at Rutgers University-Camden to study and analyze these colonial-era remains. Now, advocates are calling for new policies dealing with development on old burial grounds in the city. They are also awaiting the news of when nearly 500 remains exhumed during the construction of the new apartment building will be reburied.

Concerns over the handling of the First Baptist remains came at a time of broader scrutiny over how institutions treat human remains. The Mütter Museum faced criticism for holding onto remains of Native Americans, and the Penn Museum was also criticized for keeping the remains of a victim of the MOVE bombing and for its skull collection that had been amassed by Dr. Samuel George Morton, who espoused racist views.

Here is a timeline of First Baptist Church and the discovery of the remains:

17th century
18th century
19th century
20th century
21st century

17th century

1698: First Baptist Church of Philadelphia was established near Second and Chestnut, just 16 years after William Penn established Philadelphia, making it one of the city’s oldest churches.

18th century

1707: First Baptist moves to the site of a former Quaker meeting house on LaGrange Place, a small street, south of Second and Arch. The burial ground is behind the church, along the 200 block of Arch.

1793: Yellow Fever Epidemic kills 10 percent of the city’s population. The city suffered additional yellow fever epidemics in 1797, 1798, and 1799.

19th century

1809: 13 Black American members of First Baptist petition to leave the church to form the First African Baptist Church of Philadelphia. It is believed that some Black members remained at First Baptist and may have been buried in the 2nd St. cemetery.

1855-1856: First Baptist grows in population and moves to Broad & Arch streets in 1855. Dedication at new church is in 1856.

December 1859: First Baptist received permission from city’s Board of Health to relocate buried bodies from 2nd & Arch to Mount Moriah in Southwest Philadelphia.

1860: The church hired a company to move burials from its cemetery between January through March, in the dead of winter.

1860: The P. Herst & Son Felt Hat Manufactory builds two buildings atop the First Baptist property.

1874: P. Herst builds four more buildings at the site: a dye and boiler house, a storehouse, a building for drying and a building for stiffening and finishing hats.

1874-1875: Little Boys Court (or Way), a cobblestone lane, was created as an extension of Mickles Court.

Doug Mooney, president of the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, is photographed on on Little Boys Court street on 218 Arch St. where he says there are still people buried beneath the narrow street — probably one of few original cobblestone lanes in the city.
Doug Mooney, president of the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, is photographed on on Little Boys Court street on 218 Arch St. where he says there are still people buried beneath the narrow street — probably one of few original cobblestone lanes in the city. Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

20th century

1900: First Baptist moves again to a new church to 17th & Sansom Streets.

1962-1965: All the industrial buildings at 2nd and Arch site are demolished and a ground parking lot covers the site.

21st century

2016: In September-October, a small group of scattered bones are unearthed when workers dig a foundation for the new PMC Property Group 10-story apartment building. The Inquirer reports on the bones Nov. 4.

18th century location of the First Baptist Church and its cemetery and the PMC Property Group excavation area.
18th century location of the First Baptist Church and its cemetery and the PMC Property Group excavation area.Read moreSteve Madden

February 2017: More bones are uncovered at construction site.

March 2017: A group of volunteer scientists begin a rushed “salvage excavation,” recovering human remains while bulldozers dig into earth around them.

June 2017: Anonymous worker shows The Inquirer a photo of a human skull laying on the ground. Later, that month, after a second tip of scattered remains going to a landfill, PMC Property Group hires AECOM, a construction services archaeological firm to begin a professional removal of remain.

July-September 2017: AECOM conducts formal excavation.

July 2017: PMC Property Group formally petitions in Orphans’ Court for legal permission to remove human remains.

August 2017: Orphans Court Judge Matthew Carrafiello issues decree authorizing removal of remains, transfer to Rutgers-Camden for scientific study. Says remains should be reburied by August 2020.

Kimberlee Sue Moran, professor and director of forensics at Rutgers-Camden, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 with some of the “unassociated artifacts” that her small team of professionals, students and volunteers who carefully excavated along with the remains of nearly 500 people who were buried in the old First Baptist Church cemetery on Arch Street in Philadelphia (across from the Betsy Ross House). They were thought to had been moved to Mount Moriah Cemetery in West Philadelphia in 1860, but during a construction project in 2016, human remains were uncovered and it became apparent that the majority of individuals were not relocated in the 19th century.
Kimberlee Sue Moran, professor and director of forensics at Rutgers-Camden, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 with some of the “unassociated artifacts” that her small team of professionals, students and volunteers who carefully excavated along with the remains of nearly 500 people who were buried in the old First Baptist Church cemetery on Arch Street in Philadelphia (across from the Betsy Ross House). They were thought to had been moved to Mount Moriah Cemetery in West Philadelphia in 1860, but during a construction project in 2016, human remains were uncovered and it became apparent that the majority of individuals were not relocated in the 19th century. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

October 2017: AECOM files formal report of its excavation; reporting that AECOM recovered about remains of about 328 people, completed tally of remains found in March and June to a total of 407 remains. Loose bones indicate total of 491 remains of distinct individuals.

July 2018: Judge Carrafiello issues decree requiring PMC Property Group to provide a detailed plan for rebury the remains, The court extends deadline to no later than Sept. 30, 2023.

January 2019: Philadelphia Archaeological Forum files notice with the court that the PMC Property Group did not comply with the deadline for filing firm arrangements with Mount Moriah cemetery

June 2023: PMC, files request to the court for a final decree and permission to rebury the remains by Sept. 30, 2023.

July 2023: The PAF, the forum files a court complaint that Rutgers had not complied with court’s June 9, 2018 decree on how to treat the remains by sending samples to other universities and labs without express permission from the court.

Aug. 23, 2023: Judge denies PMC Property Group permission to rebury remains, noting the apartment developer did not submit signed agreements with the cemetery. He also said PMC and Rutgers did not follow his 2018 order in how to handle the remains.

Oct. 18, 2023: PMC Property Group files new court document seeking final decree to rebury the remains. This time, the filing includes signed documents from Mount Moriah Cemetery and the current First Baptist Church that they approve the plans. Includes letter from Mount Moriah that there is space set aside for the reburial at the cemetery.

Nov. 30, 2023: Judge issues final decree, permitting the reburial of the remains. Tells PMC it must issue public notices of reburial dates.

Dec. 15, 2023: PMC Property publishes a legal notice that it will rebury remains in January 2024.

January 2024: Burial is delayed after an archaeologist from AECOM notified PMC that it had not ordered the proper vault for reburial.

May 2024: A scientist involved in the research projects says the remains may be reburied this summer.

Acknowledgement

The work produced by the Communities and Engagement desk at The Inquirer is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.