There are thousands of people buried on the grounds of the Spring Garden Rd. library

Our first tweet (posted July 4), is one of the most fascinating — and shocking — Halifacts out there.

The Spring Garden Road Memorial Library was built on the grounds of a “poor house” (a makeshift residency for all sorts of “outcasts” — widows, orphans, criminals and disabled people, to name a few).

The people who lived there, when they died, were buried in the yard surrounding the home, not being deemed fit for burial at St. Paul’s Cemetery across the street,  now known as the Old Burying Ground.

It’s not known now many people were buried on the library grounds, but it’s most definitely in the thousands (not hundreds, like our tweet mentioned).

Careful you don’t step on too many unmarked graves next time you’re taking the shortcut to Grafton Street!