( CNN ) -- A mass grave unearthed Tuesday in downtown Montgomery , Alabama , is believed to contain bodies from an epidemic of yellow fever that swept the city in the 1870s , police said . Two buildings from the 1940s were torn down at the site , and maintenance workers grading the land in preparation for the construction of a new building uncovered the remains , said Montgomery police spokesman Maj. Huey Thornton . The site is adjacent to a cemetery , he said , and `` based on the information we have from historical documents kept by the actual cemetery ... it does appear that it may be remains from a yellow fever epidemic in the 1870s . '' Officials from the Alabama Archaeological Society and the Alabama Historical Association were at the site and are expected to be able to confirm that , he said . It was not immediately known how many bodies might be buried at the site , Thornton said , but authorities are reassuring the public there is no cause for concern . The remains are clearly too old to suggest any recent activity , he said . According to an article posted online by the Mississippi Project of the American Local History Network , an extensive outbreak of yellow fever occurred in 1878 , spreading across eight states but particularly affecting Alabama , Louisiana and Mississippi . Some 16,000 people died from the disease that year alone , according to the article .
The mass grave was unearthed Tuesday in downtown Montgomery , Alabama . Workers preparing land for construction of a new building uncovered the remains . Historical records indicate bodies could be from yellow fever outbreak . It was not immediately known how many bodies might be buried at the site .