The Kalanu Native American Cemetery
Located adjacent to Earl Thomas Conley Riverside Park
on US Route 52 in West Portsmouth is the Kalanu Native American Cemetery.
The cemetery was established
in 1987 by the Scioto County Commissioners after a local group of citizens called the Tallige Cherokee Nation negotiated
the return and re-interment of the remains of 47 Pre-historic Native Americans that had been accidently unearthed when
the former Scioto County Home for the Aged was torn down in 1986.
The remains had been removed from the site
and taken to Columbus by the Ohio Historical Society.
Located nearby the Kalanu Native American Cemetery are several dozen paupers’ graves.
These graves are marked only by simple small sandstone or limestone markers.
Most of
the markers have no names just numbers many of which have worn off over the years.
These stark graves are the final resting place of individuals who were buried over the years by the
county because they were indigent, unknown or had no family.
