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This US Airport Has A Strange, Grim Detail Hidden Under Its Runway
By Alexa Heah, 17 May 2021
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Image via Savannah Airport
If you’ve taken off or landed at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Georgia, you may have missed out on a secret.
It appears that it is the only airport in the world with graves embedded in an active runway, which serves thousands of general and commercial flights yearly.
Back in 1942, ongoing World War II meant more facilities had to be built for the war effort, as per Insider.
The federal government and the City of Savannah agreed to a lease for 1,100 acres, which is now what is Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Part of this was a private family cemetery belonging to the Dotson family.
According to Savannah Airport, it is believed the family’s cemetery had more than 100 graves. The Dotson’s great-grandchildren had negotiated with the federal government, convincing them not to relocate four of their ancestors’ graves.
The remaining graves honor the original owners of the Dotson Family Farm, which was known in the 1800s as Cherokee Hills, located on the Western half of the airport.
The graves of Richard and Catherine Dotson, the family’s patriarch and matriarch, and their relatives Daniel Hueston and John Dotson, currently remain undisturbed in and next to the airport’s most active runway.
Image via Savannah Airport
[via Insider, images via Savannah Airport]
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