The Old First Presbyterian Church Archaeological Project June 2-July 3, 2003 A cooperative project of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, and the City of Murfreesboro, Department of Parks and Recreation. Project Director: Kevin E. Smith, Professor of Anthropology

Absolutely not! Our project was focused on investigating the original church building. Careful documentary research reveals no evidence that the church lot was ever used for burial purposes after the destruction of the church. Hence, we did not anticipate encountering any graves in the area to be investigated -- and no human graves were encountered during our excavations.

We did excavate near and around the row of eight (originally nine) Revolutionary War markers located just inside the Vine Street entrance. These "tombstones" are commemorative markers installed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s to honor veterans of the Revolutionary War. They do not mark the actual graves of those soldiers.