WASHINGTON — Two feet of topsoil and $5,000 later, the Lighthouse Recovery Center finally got some good news Wednesday morning.  

Excavation of the area where the Lighthouse plans to construct a new building began Tuesday morning and wrapped up Wednesday. The work was supervised by  Jeff Myers and John Schwegman from American Resources Group, an archeological firm from Carbondale, Ill., hired by the Lighthouse.

Their involvement was necessary due to the possibility of a human burial ground in the area.

In addition to looking with the naked eye for “stains in the soil” that might suggest the presence of graves, the archeologists swept and scanned the entire area with an instrument called a magnetometer. The scan revealed nothing more than routine “anomalies,” a generic term according to the archeologists for anything picked up by the magnetometer.  

Kathy Moore, along with Lighthouse Director Pete Aldrich, was on hand to observe the removal of the topsoil. Moore, whose father Richard Nolley was the superintendent of the county farm at one time, grew up on the property and is now working with the Daviess County Museum to enter the names of everyone who ever lived at the county farm into a data base.

Moore, like Aldrich, is aware that the county farm buried deceased inmates somewhere on the property but, like Aldrich, and the Archeologists he has had to hire, is not certain exactly where the people were laid to rest. Based on discussions with her brother, Moore thinks the burial ground may be somewhere to the south of the current excavation. She recalls the area where the topsoil has now been removed as a large garden.

Moore relayed the story passed down by a former inmate named Burt Cunningham of a pair of infants that died as their family was passing through the county many years ago and were later buried at the county farm. Cunningham told Moore’s brother that some time later, the brother of the two infants came to Daviess County and removed the remains of his two siblings, taking with him the personal information that had been kept in a mason jar and buried along with the two infants.

Moore also remembers the garden, the crops and the livestock.  Chickens, cattle and hogs. All of the inmates had a job to do and the facility sustained itself with the crops it harvested and the animals it raised. She also recalls at one time there were as many as eight oil wells operating on the premises.  

The Lighthouse is a non-profit corporation that provides counseling and addiction services to residents of Daviess and neighboring counties. The center accepts voluntary commitments and also works closely with the two courts in Daviess county and the probation department in handling court ordered commitments.

Proclaiming the Lighthouse was “good to go,” because no indication of graves found within 100 feet of the excavated site, Myers added that he and Schwegman will now prepare and send a report to the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archeology.

The report will itemize the  “anomalies” found including metal stakes, buried pipelines, nails, horseshoes, and, curiously, mussel shells.  

While talking with Myers in the disturbed area after the work had stopped, Moore explained that mussel shells used to be mixed in with chicken feed to strengthen the shells of chicken eggs.

Aldrich hopes the state will issue an approval letter within the next few weeks saying that construction can proceed. Assuming the state gives its blessing, the Lighthouse will move forward with the construction of a new dormitory and multi purpose area on the site. When completed, the building will house as many as 40 people and carry a $400,000 price tag. Aldrich said the center will borrow roughly half of that amount and seek donations for the balance.

 Until the state signs off on it however, no additional work can be performed on the site.

Meanwhile the Lighthouse would welcome donations to offset the $5,000 expense it has already paid for the archeologists’ services.