28 unmarked graves found on NOTL burial ground

Ground-penetrating radar that was conducted earlier this month discovered 28 unmarked graves at a neglected burial site in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The people buried there were likely freedom seekers who settled in the Niagara region from the U.S. in the 1800s. Only two headstones remain above ground. Over the decades the markers either sunk into the ground or were stolen.

James Russell from Toronto wants to give the people buried there their names, stories, and respect back.

Once all of the graves are marked, then the work of putting names to all of the people that are buried there.

Russell and his wife Marilyn have put up Canadian flags are temporary headstones until they can provide the occupants with real headstones. Russell is using his own money to do this.

When asked why “out of respect for the people that were buried here. The Black people that were buried here seem to have been forgotten. It’s just legacy, it should be done,” Marilyn Russell said.