Since the the city of Mobile revealed that it would relocate five city facilities that are on the site of over 3,000 unmarked graves, the Mobile Genealogical Society said they want to try to identify the people buried there.

“The most important thing right now is to get some closure to this,” Debbie Nicoll, president of the Mobile Genealogical Society, said. “It’s only going to take us uncovering a few, then I’m hoping it will be an avalanche.”

Nicoll says that she received several calls after the news broke last week from people who believe their relatives may be buried there. In some cases, she says, people know their relatives are buried somewhere in the city but can’t find them anywhere.

That it’s likely that the land was used as a “potter’s field,” or burial ground for unknown or indigent Mobilians, makes the task more difficult, Nicoll said. But the society is prepared to take it on – independently of government assistance.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson has said the city has no plans to try to identify the remains at the site, which were likely buried from the late 19th century into the early 20th century.