Throughout the late 1850s, there was discussion of closing the cemetery or abandoning it because of health concerns. In fall 1858, Dr. John H. Rauch MD suggested that the burial grounds were a health risk, which "might serve extremely well for plantations of grove and forest trees" that would be "useful and ornamental to the city." The idea was dropped during the Civil War, but revived by Dr. Rauch after the war ended. By 1864, the city council had decided to add all the cemetery lands north of North Avenue to the park by relocating the graves. The cemetery sections south of North Avenue were also relocated but this land was left for residential development. To this day, the Couch mausoleum can still be seen as the most visible reminder of the history as a cemetery, standing amidst trees, behind the Chicago History Museum. Ira Couch, who is interred in the tomb, was one of Chicago's earliest innkeepers, opening the Tremont House in 1835. Couch is believed to not be the only person interred in the old burial ground in Lincoln Park. A plaque placed nearby states that "the remains of six Couch family members and one family friend are in the tomb." Partially due to the destruction of the Chicago Fire of burial markers, it was difficult to remove many of the remains. As recently as 1998, construction in the park has revealed more bodies left over from the nineteenth century.