Two people are actually buried under a busy US airport runway and the reason is quite bizarre
If you've ever taken off from the Savannah/Hilton Head airport, you would have spotted the mysterious rectangles placed at an angle in the runway. While at first glance, they might seem like ordinary patches of repaired pavement, in reality, the rectangles are instead graves! The runway was the burial site of Catherine Dotson and Richard Dotson, the original landowners, the airport is built on. For decades, the couple's graves have remained undisturbed.
The two graves lie near the edge of runways 10 and 28, as reported by Business Insider. Born in 1797, Catherine and Richard were reportedly married for 50 years before the former died in 1877. Richard died seven years later in 1884. As was the tradition at the time, they were laid to rest side by side on their land. The burial ground once held about 100 graves, including those of enslaved individuals. When World War II broke out, the military needed the land for its B-24 'Liberators' and B-17 'Flying Fortresses,' leading to most of the graves being relocated to Bonaventure Cemetery—except for the Dotsons, who remain to this day.
@dailymail Did You Know There's a Cemetery Underneath a Runway in Georgia? Prepare for an astonishing revelation the next time you land at Savannah Hilton Head Airport. Those two rectangular shapes on the runway aren't ordinary aviation markers; they are, in fact, gravestones, preserving the legacy of Richard and Catherine Dotson, former farmers whose lives were deeply rooted in this very land. #fyp #georgia #mystery #grave #buried #ww2 #history #news #viral #cemetery #horror #savannahhiltonheadairport #savannah #aviation #graves #evergreen #spooky ♬ original sound - Daily Mail
Descendants of Catherine and Richard refused to allow their ancestors to be relocated, believing the couple would have wanted to stay on the land they had nurtured for most of their lives, which at the time was known as Cherokee Hills. While the airport eventually paved over their resting place, it did so with respect, leaving markers to honor them. Nearby, hidden in the brush close to the airport’s busiest runway, lie two more Dotson family members—Daniel Hueston and John Dotson.
There are two people buried under one of the runways at Savannah Hilton Head international Airport.
— Morbid Knowledge (@Morbidful) June 8, 2024
When the airport expanded a runway during World War II, it paved over a family burial site. The family's descendants permitted the relocation of 96 out of the 100 graves.
The… pic.twitter.com/UbKyyS2Svm
The airport's website states that these graves are the only ones in the world located within an active 9,350-foot runway. Regional airline captain, Lisa Ruedy, wrote about this unique site for 'All Things Aero'. She said, "It's said that if you are coming in to land just after sundown, two figures will appear just along the north side of the runway." Relatives of the Dotson family can visit the graves, but only with an airport escort—and leaving flowers is strictly prohibited. After all, it's a bustling runway.
When a video of the unusual resting place went viral on social media, especially TikTok, netizens understandably had a lot to say. A TikToker commented, “Can confirm during a takeoff from this airport I saw them staring deep into my heart before they started rickrolling me as the plane left.” Another shared, “Same thing at our local airport!! They moved most to the side, but one remains. I wonder if that’s how the government gets the land so easy and cheap.” Chiming in, one argued, “Georgia probably got a lot more buried, I’m sure.”