Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries

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Cemetery NumberCR060
TownCRANSTON
Cemetery NameSTATE FARM CEMETERY #1
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Graves ListDisplay Graves List
LocationROUTE #37
StateRI
DirectionS
Pole Number 
Distance100
Map Number 
Page Number 
Plat Number 
Deed Book 
Deed Page 
Size in Feet335
Size in Feet120
Burials3066
Inscriptions0
Fieldstones 
Tombs 
Exist?NO
Last seen date?1940
Newest1917
Oldest1875
VandalismN
Veteran 
PoleN
CommentThis is the original 3.4 acre cemetery for the state institutions called the State Farm Cemetery on a couple of early maps. The March 1887 map by J. A. Latham is titled “Map of Cemetery at State Farm” and the 1895 Everts & Richardson map has it listed as “State Farm Cem.” In 1998 Florence Patenaude published all the records she could find for this cemetery at the institution at Howard where she used to work. They were published in volume 24, 1998 RI Roots. Unfortunately she did not find any records after 1927. Subsequent attempts to find these records were unsuccessful. Information from records of state institutions at Howard (mostly the Alms House). About 3/4 of people that died at the state institutions were claimed by their families for burial elsewhere. The rest were buried in paupers graves marked by concrete stones with numbers. Sockanosset Boy's School opened 1 Nov 1850 State Hospital for Insane opened 7 Nov 1870 Alms House opened Aug 1874 in 1912 there were 246 men/221 women/ 47 boys/ 38 girls at the Alms House The first burial here was in 1873 and there were 3066 burials from 1873-1918. In 2006, several coffins were exposed due to rain and additional ones removed to facilitate repair of roadbed. There were 67 sets of remains excavated with 59 identifiable remains. These were researched by the RI Department of Transportation and any unclaimed by family members were reinterred in State Institution #2 CR061 with granite markers and their names and dates." It is now clear that Route #37 was built on top of the 3.4 acre institution cemetery shown on the 1895 Evert and Richards map. In 1963, graves covered and the elevation was raised to build Rt. 37 over the cemetery. There are no visible markers remaining. Markers that can be seen from the Rt. 37 belong to the Annex, CR107. A map of the Cemetery at the State Farm by J. A. Latham in March of 1887 shows 1256 planned grave sites. This map shows the cemetery just west of the Pawtuxet Valley Railroad. The Route #37 bridge over the railroad tracks marks the eastern edge of this cemetery and the entire cemetery is under the highway. The burials that washed out and the ones that were removed all had coffin plates with the person's name, date of death, age, and institution in which he or she died. These coffin plates can all be located in one area of the Latham map. Each of the graves contained two bodies. Grave #39 was first used 18 June 1887 and was reused 8 Oct 1916. Grave #40 was first used 13 Aug 1887 and was reused 18 May 1916. A 1908 newspaper article talks about this cemetery. The graves were marked with wooden markers but because the cemetery was up against the Pawtucket Valley Railroad tracks the sparks from the steam engines kept setting fires that consumed the grave markers. The cemetery was allowed to deteriorate and become overgrown. It was then plowed under, stumps and rocks removed and grass planted to make it look more presentable.
Conditionfair
Enclosureno enclosure
Gateno gate
Growthovergrown-weeds
Terrainlevel
Cemetery Location
Cemetery Burial Map N/A