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Cholera Cemetery graves.

Cholera Cemetery: Mass Grave

Field review by the editors.

Sandusky, Ohio

357 victims of Sandusky's 1849 cholera epidemic were buried here in a pit, killed over a period of only 68 days. At the time, people blamed the disease on "dissipated habits" -- mostly drunkenness -- not realizing that it was in fact caused by drinking water that had been contaminated by leaking outhouses and cesspits. Additional victims fled the city for the supposedly safer countryside, but they drank the same contaminated water, died, and were buried elsewhere.

Cholera Cemetery memorial.

Subsequent cholera epidemics in 1852 and 1854 took even more lives in Sandusky, but its citizens never figured out why they were dying.

The graveyard features a metal "Cholera Cemetery" entry arch and a pillar honoring the "unselfish faithfulness" of those who tended to the sick.

According to local lore, the corpses in the Cholera Cemetery were buried by the town drunk, who was immune thanks to his preference for alcohol over water.

Cholera Cemetery: Mass Grave

Address:
Harrison St., Sandusky, OH
Directions:
Northwest edge of the city. From US-6 turn north onto Harrison St. Drive one block. You'll see the cemetery entrance on the left.
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Nearby Offbeat Places

Merry-Go-Round MuseumMerry-Go-Round Museum, Sandusky, OH - < 1 mi.
Boy and the Boot (outdoors)Boy and the Boot (outdoors), Sandusky, OH - < 1 mi.
Boy and the Boot (indoor)Boy and the Boot (indoor), Sandusky, OH - < 1 mi.
In the region:
Giant Paddle Ball, Cleveland, OH - 51 mi.

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