Home built with marble tombstones from the graves of 2,200 Union soldiers | Hacker News Reader

Home built with marble tombstones from the graves of 2,200 Union soldiers

atlasobscura.com

30 pointsAnon8414 comments

Before commenting please read the article which shows a less horrifying story than the title suggests. These graves were in poor repair, and they were in the middle of the great depression, so decided they could keep them neat enough by cutting the part with the names off and placing them flat on the ground, similar to a lot of humble crematorium graves today. The marble left was sold, I would guess to cover the cost of the work at a time when there would have been absolutely no money available for this sort of purpose.

And we should remember that there are no angels in a war (or as it seems even after it).

Here's an Atlas Obscura entry about the mass grave of an estimated 6,000 Confederate soldiers detained by the Union as prisoners of war in Chicago: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/confederate-mound

Even the number of people buried there is not known with certainty. And there seems to have been quite a few petitions to remove the monument with the 4,200 known names entirely. [1]

[1]: https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl...

> And we should remember that there are no angels in a war

Except, of course, for the War in Heaven[1], where it was only angels warring. But seriously, I'm not sure the sentiment is entirely true. Oskar Schindler, Nicholas Winton, Raoul Wallenberg, Jeannie de Clarens, and plenty of others that risked their lives to save thousands, not to mention the Red Cross.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Heaven

Drove by this house many a time, but never knew the history behind it. From the road, it doesn't look particularly remarkable.

Oh, the joys of the depression.

It looks more like cinder block than marble from the photos, is that the case in person as well? Kind of a bummer to have a marble house that ends up being nothing special.

Negative re: cinder blocks. In person, they're quite plainly larger than cinder blocks, and with a different texture as well. The absence of paint is also quite noticeable. As far as I recall, I'd long presumed it was stone of some sort. That alone is not particularly remarkable- stone buildings abound in the area, though not in that specific neighborhood- and absent this article I'd never have paid it any mind.

Sounds like a horror movie back-story scene-setter before fast forwarding to the present day when a random group of teenage kids accidentally unleash a CGI soldier-poltergeist-tornado of epic proportions...

Talk about clickbait / false advertising.

Quick someone grab my wrecking ball, I’ve a house to level.

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