Human remains have been exposed as a cemetery shoreline continues to erode along Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota.
St Louis County officials are seeking around $2.5 million to prevent more remains from surfacing at Scandia Cemetery, which is near the Glensheen Mansion, a local tourist attraction.
County officials first became aware in 2024 that graves at the Duluth cemetery were being exposed.
Future weather events and the effects of climate change are listed as concerns that could cause even greater degradation and erosion to the shoreline, the proposal states. Costs associated with housing and identifying exposed human remains are also marked as concerns in the document.
The proposal states that the site is currently controlled by a cemetery board.
The graveyard was established in 1881 by members of the local First Norwegian Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. The first body to be buried there was that of a 9-year-old boym reports The Minnesota Star Tribune.
According to a local historical society, the majority of those buried there were victims of various epidemics in the early 20th century. “That was prime real estate. Bury your loved ones near the lake, it’s beautiful,” an engineer with St. Louis County Public Works, Rachel Gregg, told the newspaper.
Gregg said there are bones visible in the ground because they’re in a hard-to-reach spot.
There are still a handful of people who have made it clear in their wishes that they want to be buried there, The Star Tribune reports.
The report also says that the two keepers of the cemetery are over 90 years old.
Minnesota State Senator Jen McEwen told Northern News Now that she supports the $2,550,000 proposal to build a concrete retaining wall and to implement nature-based stabilization methods at the site.
“We really do need to step up to make sure that we are protecting the public and addressing damage that is a direct result of climate change,” McEwen said.
County Commissioner Patrick Boyle also told the outlet that officials “want to do what’s right for the families and those folks that are buried there.”
“As we speak, it continues eroding,” Boyle continued. “I don’t think we can wait on this project any longer.”
The county has applied for a grant from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. The LCCMR is funded in part by the Minnesota State Lottery.
McEwen, who sits on the LCCMR board, told Northern News Now that she expects some officials to have reservations about the proposal.
“I still think that we are going to face some questions from the legislature about whether these LCCMR funds are appropriate for a use like this,” McEwen said.
However, Boyle says that he believes in the project despite it failing to receive funding last year.
“We know it’s a shovel-ready case, and this is exactly what we need,” he said. “It’s at the finish line.”
Scandia Cemetery's caretakers wrote to the county several years ago, expressing a wish to give up the site, officials told Northern Now News.
An engineering company determined that building the wall was a cheaper proposal than relocating the graves, officials added.
According to the proposal, construction will begin in July 2027, and the project will be completed on December 31, 2028.
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