INDIANAPOLIS — Crews found 1,709 grave shafts right off the banks of the White River as they build the Henry Street Bridge, according to the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.

DPW says after a yearlong excavation phase, this part of the project is complete. They city only excavated the area where they needed to build the road for the bridge.

In 1821, the city built its so-called first cemetery, but 200 years later, you can't tell it once was someone's final resting place.

Local historian Sampson Levingston told 13News it's time to recognize it.

"Who's in that cemetery tells the story of Indianapolis," he said.

In order to finish building the Henry Street bridge, archaeologists recovered human remains, personal items, even rail lines from the first electric railway.

The bridge w

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