Crews Excavating ‘Grave in The Middle of The Road’

(Image provided by the University of Indianapolis)

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Work is underway on and around one of the state’s most unusual sites. While Johnson County crews complete road improvements around the "Grave in the Middle of the Road," a team from the archeology department at the University of Indianapolis is in the process of excavating the grave of Nancy Kerlin Barnett and burying it deeper.

UIndy says the process will help better protect the site from reckless drivers. Road crews will then build a new wall around the grave site, which is located in the middle of County Road 400 South near Amity. The work is set to be complete in about a week.

The site contains a historical marker, which describes the circumstances of the grave’s location. Around the turn of the 19th Century, a road was to be constructed through the cemetery on a hill where Nancy Kerlin Barnett is buried. Daniel Doty, camped out on the spot with his gun as a protest until the road was constructed around his grandmother’s grave. In 1912, a concrete slab was place on the site to protect it and the marker detailing the site’s significance was erected in 1982 by her great, great grandson.

Nancy Kerlin Barnett was born in 1793 and died in 1831.