Farnhurst Potter's Field Delaware State Historic Marker

Farnhurst Potter's Field Delaware State Historic Marker

The Farnhurst Potter’s Field served as the final resting place for those who died in the Almshouse and the New Castle County Hospital when they occupied the land around the cemetery. It also served as the burial site for the poor of New Castle County who had no family or other means for a proper burial. Many of those graves can no longer be seen, long ago buried under highway construction. Progress, it was called. During that progress, promises were broken. Memorials to the souls now buried and lost under tons of new earth were never erected. The graves untouched by construction were soon forgotten. If it were not for the tireless efforts of Dr. Kathy Dettwyler and Hal Brown, a retired Deputy Medical Examiner, most of the history and names of those buried here would be lost. Thanks to their work, we know many of the stories that would have just disappeared in a thicket of trees, underbrush and highway construction.
Dr. Faith Kuehn, who leads the Planting Hope program on the neighboring DHSS Herman Holloway campus, is one of those leading the latest effort to clean up and recognize the importance of this cemetery. She has been helped by Danny Episcopo and his facility operations team from the DHSS campus. They have been instrumental in cleaning up this area.
Senator David McBride, a longtime friend of DHSS and the community, helped secure the historic marker for this property, once again showing he truly understands how important these lives were to our state’s history.
The cemetery is between the Baylor entrance road and I-295 just outside the DHSS campus fence.