By MaryHelen Swanson

Mammoth piles of dirt and a powerfully deep hole have transformed the property to the north of the Green Acres Country Care Center into a scene that resembles something like the surface of another planet.

It is, in reality, a housing development under construction.

Far back on the property which once belonged to Chisago County, the sun shines through pine trees planted in the 60s onto stark, white, tombstones of people who died just after the turn of the 20th century. For the most part, one cannot clearly read the names on the stones.

These men and women had been residents at what was then the county Poor Farm, where indigent folks lived out their lives.

Apparently there was no family to bury them, for they were laid to rest in this back lot mostly to be forgotten.

As the housing development, known as Luchtís Crossing, gets underway, there has been some concern that the sacredness of the final resting place has been desecrated by bulldozers.

Last week, Sherry Stirling of the Chisago County Historical Society took this reporter back to the cemetery for a first-hand look to see that the 20 marked graves are untouched.

Pine trees - one in particular of a different variety and very large - shelter these graves.

But Stirling noted that it is thought there are around 100 people buried back there. There are no other grave markers, but it does appear that some markers may have disappeared, according to the pattern of the tombstones with larger gaps between some of them.

Stirling, at the historical society, has a list of names of those who are thought to be buried there.

Stirling is aware of at least one living relative of one of the people buried there. She noted that there is technology that can locate graves, but it is very expensive, and no one is willing to take on that project.

What Stirling doesnít know is who owns the piece of land on which the cemetery is located, marked on the development as Outlot A. Does it still belong to the county, the city of North Branch or the developer? She believes that the agreement is that the cemetery will continue to have public access when the development is complete.

She hopes that someone will eventually fence in the graveyard to properly preserve it.

For now, it looks as if the poor folks buried way back there will continue to rest in peace.