the first time I heard the term potter's field was at work, and before I was a caretaker, I was sent to the cemetery to help open and close a grave. this individual had no ability to pay for their interment, so we had to provided a grave space. Paul, my co-worker who was the caretaker where I worked used that term, or more specifically he called it a potter's grave. I asked him about it and he told me a potter's field was a cemetery or an area in a cemetery where people who had came upon hard times where buried free of charge, as a responsibility of the government when no one claimed a deceased body. while we did not have a specific section for that purpose we did have some one lot spaces in places not likely to be purchased due to their location.
later I did a little research on the term and learned of its biblical origins and that it was a field used for the extraction of potter's clay. land of such poor soil quality was useless for farming, so it might as well become a graveyard for those who could not be buried in a consecrated church cemetery. fast forward to more modern times and a potter's field was often the site of burial in times of distress. for example a disease outbreak in a large metropolitan area that spread to epidemic proportions, where there was the need to bury a lot of people. such death would often come rapidly, and if next of kin could not be located public health concerns dictated that type of interment.
fast forward a little more and you find the poor house. a government run facility, usually operated by a county or a municipality, to provide housing for those who could not do so for themselves. often there was a farming operation on the grounds, and those able to work on the farm did so. their labors in the fields provided at least some of the grains and livestock they consumed. you would also find residents of the poor house providing housekeeping services and care for those who could do even less. that system began to decline with the onset of social security and evolved into the county home as we see it today. a nursing home for those who have no means of paying for their care. which is where we are today, the cemetery for the county home. the people interned here where residents of the county home and had no means to pay for a burial elsewhere, or maybe even no family left at all. some may have came from places other than the county home, but at the time of their death they or their families could not pay for a burial, so this is where they ended up.
those of us who enjoy caching in cemeteries, and I count myself as one of those, enjoy the grand monuments and beautifully maintained grounds we usually visit. you will not find that here, what you will find are mostly simple markers, and a couple markers purchased by family in addition to or in place of the standard issue marker. you will also see some veterans markers on grounds maintained with dignity. I myself found a cache here once before, and when I saw it was archived I hoped someone might hide a new one here, but when nobody did I figured I might as well hide one myself.
congratulations for the FTF go out to J.Aduddell on 12-6-15