LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB)-- From the time parents roll the stroller in, until they push it out, the pointing and picture taking can leave little time to notice something sort of hiding in plain sight at the Louisville Zoo.
"I've been here many many times, never have seen it," zoo visitor David Carter said.
Shrouded in shade and guarded by geese is a final resting place for humans. It's called the Phillips Durrett Clark Cemetery.
Pat House is a 95-year-old descendant of some the people buried there, including Revolutionary War solider Jenkin Phillips, who fought alongside George Washington.
"We're going back six generations or more," House said. "It was my grandfather's people. He was a Phillips."
House, ironically, is not an animal lover.
"I'm scared to death of everything on four legs," said House. "They all have teeth."
Even she wondered why the cemetery is in the middle of the zoo.
Kevin Bailey with U of L Archives helped WDRB go back in time to figure it out.
"Old newspaper clippings that we have in the archive show that while the city was acquiring lands for the zoo park project, they came across the cemetery," Bailey explained.
If it was abandoned it could be moved, but that didn't happen.
"Because there was a living family member who still in theory would still use it, the city honored that and kept it there," Bailey explained.Â
The Louisville Zoo basically built around it. It may seem sort of strange, but it's not unheard of, even in Louisville. There's also a shrub-covered cemetery in the middle of a Saint Matthews shopping center that has been there for decades.
So the next time you're rolling or strolling through the zoo, take some time to pay your respects to Pat House's family, even if she will not.
"Too many animals over there," she said.
Another descendant of Phillips hopes to work with the Sons of the American Revolution to replace some of the old headstones at the cemetery. However, zoo officials must give permission first.
Related Stories:
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
