A Shocking Discovery in Augusta
In late summer 1989, construction workers renovating a 150-year-old building in Augusta, Georgia, uncovered thousands of human bones buried in its basement.
Forensic experts determined the remains dated back to the 19th century, linked to the Medical College of Georgia, which operated in the building from 1835 to 1913.
The College and the Cadavers
During this period, medical students dissected cadavers as part of their training. Because human dissection was restricted, corpses were secretly acquired through grave-robbing.
Bodies were preserved in whiskey before being used in anatomy classes. After dissections, many remains were discarded in the basement and covered in quicklime to mask the odor.
The “Resurrection Man”
One man, Grandison Harris, was central to this practice. Purchased in 1852 as a Gullah slave, Harris served as the college’s porter and janitor but primarily acted as a grave-robber, supplying cadavers for over 50 years.
Taught to read and write, he monitored obituaries and perfected methods of removing bodies discreetly, often targeting Augusta’s Cedar Grove cemetery. Students respected Harris, even involving him in dissections, though they also teased him with elaborate pranks.
Career, Reputation, and Final Years
After the Civil War, Harris briefly became a judge in South Carolina but returned to the college after Reconstruction. Among Augusta’s Black community, he was both admired and feared for his role. In 1887, Georgia passed a law to supply unclaimed bodies to medical schools, but demand kept Harris employed until his retirement in 1905.
He delivered a final lecture in 1908 on grave-robbing techniques and died in 1911, buried in Cedar Grove—the same cemetery he once raided. The bones found in the basement were finally reinterred there in 1998 under a marker reading: “Known but to God.”
In 1989, workers renovating 598 Telfair Street in Augusta uncovered thousands of human bones in a dirt basement.
Forensic teams traced them to the Medical College of Georgia, which used the building for anatomy training from 1835 to 1913…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/eb2vFxVqxX
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) August 22, 2025