This cemetery, known as a potter's field, is a remnant of the Chester County Poorhouse, once located nearby, and contains several hundred graves of early poorhouse residents. Built in 1798, the poorhouse was a refuge for orphans and indigent adults and marked a vast improvement over earlier treatment of paupers, who less than a century before had been forced to wear a scarlet "P" on their sleeves and risked being beaten or driven out of the county. Over the years, the poorhouse expanded to include an asylum for the mentally ill and eventually became the Embreeville State Mental Hospital, which remained in operation until 1980. One resident was "Indian Hannah," believed to be the last Native American in Chester County; a member of the Lenni-Lenape tribe, she supported herself through sewing and basket making and was buried on the poorhouse grounds, though the exact location of her grave is unknown.