Worcester State Hospital
Contact
person: Alfred Bacotti, Director of Glavin Regional Center (508)
845-9111 ext. 221
Bob
Johnson, Janine Joseph, Dr. Al Bacotti and Roland Charpentier
stand in front of the beautifully restored Hillside West Cemetery
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There are
two cemeteries at Worcester State Hosptial. Both are located in
an area that was the former farm of Worcester State Hospital. The
farms are no longer in operation and the Glavin Center for people
with developmental disabilities is located there.
Hillside
West, the smaller of the two cemeteries, has 217 former patients
from Worcester State Hospital buried there. These ex-patients were
buried between 1918 and 1924. In the fall of 1999, following many
years of work by a committee of staff and family members, a rededication
ceremony celebrated the restoration of this cemetery. Hillside West
is now beautifully landscaped, with the original stone wall rebuilt,
gates at the entrance, and proper headstones for the people buried
there. This restored and properly memorialized cemetery sets an
example of excellence that we are working to match at all state
hospital cemeteries.
Simple
yet dignified gravestones bearing the names of former patients
have replaced numbered markers at Worcester State's Hillside
West Cemetery thanks to the work of the staff at the Glavin
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The larger
cemetery, Hillside East, holds the graves of patients buried between
1925 and the mid-1980's. Restoration of this cemetery is still in
process. It's surrounded by an old stone wall that has had to be
restored, and a lot of landscaping has been necessary to cut back
the forest which had encroached upon it. Gates and pillars have
been installed with the cemetery's name on them. Research has turned
up the names and dates of birth and death for all of the people
buried here. Currently, efforts are being made to provide headstones
for each grave. Al Bacotti estimates it will be possible to place
200 stones a year. There are 1200 graves total, so it will be another
4 years before this work is completed.
Hillside
East is the larger of the two cemeteries with 1,200 former
patients buried there |
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Marker
1018 at Worcester State Hospital's Hillside East cemetery
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