The city of Decatur, the Georgia Historic Preservation Division and the nonprofit Wellroot Family Services are investigating the discovery of a possible burial vault in Legacy Park, the site of a former orphanage that opened there in 1873.
City contractors were grading to pave a long-anticipated multiuse path from the park’s north entrance to the East Decatur Greenway, which in turn links to the trail connecting Atlanta to Stone Mountain. Near the north entrance, they struck a brick vault that was 2 feet by 4 feet by 2 feet, Assistant City Manager of Public Works Cara Scharer said. The vault was about a foot from the top of the graded land, she said.
The vault’s top had come loose, allowing workers to see glass and metal pieces inside, Scharer said. They immediately stopped construction and called the Decatur Police Department to file a report, she said. City officials notified the state historic preservation office, which visited the site two days later and determined the box had a “high likelihood” of being a burial vault, Scharer said…