New Ariz. sheriff's building on top of old cemetery

(CBS/AP) PHOENIX - The construction site of the new Maricopa County Sheriff's headquarters in downtown Phoenix has yielded some old secrets - what officials believe is a cemetery dating back to the late 1800s.

CBS affiliate KPHO reports that crews recently unearthed caskets while laying the foundation for the new sheriff's administration offices.

The station reports that Pioneer Cemetery files confirm the location was the first cemetery burial grounds of the original townsite of the village of Phoenix.

Many of the burials were the victims of frontier justice, hung or shot by the lawmen and townspeople of that era, according to cemetery files.

County officials won't say how many caskets were found, but said some were empty and others contained human remains. The area where the caskets were found has been marked off, and construction will continue around it.

The century-old burial ground is not on any maps, but a Phoenix historian said in the 1920s the cemetery was moved because it was the first thing people saw when they arrived at the downtown train station.