Laurens coroner holding memorial service for poor

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Laurens County authorities are holding a memorial service at a site they say may be a burial ground for hundreds of people.

Coroner Nick Nichols says a service is happening Sunday at Potter’s Field.

Nichols says there are only five marked graves in the cemetery that officially dates back to about 1938. But the coroner says the field likely served as a burial ground for hundreds of poor people from as early as the Revolutionary War.

Nichols says the county tries to keep grass mowed at the site. Any donations received Sunday will go toward helping residents at nearby Laurens County Memorial Home.