North Burial Ground, Providence, Rhode Island (2016)
While Tom R. Chambers was in Providence, Rhode Island to attend his exhibition opening, "Retro Providence: 1985-1990" at City Archives, City Hall, he spent a few hours documenting the North Burial Ground in the city.
Information:
The North Burial Ground is a 110-acre cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island, dating to 1700. It was the first public cemetery in Providence. The burial ground is one of the larger municipal cemeteries in Southern New England, at 150 acres.
From the time of its founding by Roger Williams in 1636, Rhode Island had strict separation of religious and government institutions. Therefore, Providence had no state churches with adjacent public burial grounds, as most New England towns had. Instead, townspeople buried their dead in family plots on individual farms.
In 1700, a town vote was held to establish a municipal cemetery. This cemetery was to be open to the deceased of all faiths, from millionaires to paupers, and even emancipated slaves. 45 acres were set aside; 10 acres were to be used for a cemetery, the remainder for a town common and militia training ground. However, the first official burial didn't take place until one Samuel Whipple was buried here in 1711. There were only about one or two burials per year until 1736, when 14 people were buried.
By the mid-1800s, under the influence of the Rural Cemetery Movement, cemeteries generally became viewed as a place for the general public to enjoy refined outdoor recreation. In Providence, the North Burial Ground was further landscaped. More land was added, along with curving roads and trees, to make the grounds more attractive to the living.
(Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Burial_Ground
From the time of its founding by Roger Williams in 1636, Rhode Island had strict separation of religious and government institutions. Therefore, Providence had no state churches with adjacent public burial grounds, as most New England towns had. Instead, townspeople buried their dead in family plots on individual farms.
In 1700, a town vote was held to establish a municipal cemetery. This cemetery was to be open to the deceased of all faiths, from millionaires to paupers, and even emancipated slaves. 45 acres were set aside; 10 acres were to be used for a cemetery, the remainder for a town common and militia training ground. However, the first official burial didn't take place until one Samuel Whipple was buried here in 1711. There were only about one or two burials per year until 1736, when 14 people were buried.
By the mid-1800s, under the influence of the Rural Cemetery Movement, cemeteries generally became viewed as a place for the general public to enjoy refined outdoor recreation. In Providence, the North Burial Ground was further landscaped. More land was added, along with curving roads and trees, to make the grounds more attractive to the living.
(Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Burial_Ground
