Grafton State Hospital Memorial Cemetery in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

About

Get directions Centech Boulevard
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, USA

Coordinates: 42.25189, -71.68542
Cemetery ID:

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About these numbers These percentages indicate the number of Find a Grave memorials that have a grave photo or GPS coordinates. We don't know the total number of burials in a cemetery, so we cannot calculate a percentage of those with memorials, photos or GPS coordinates.

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2 open photo requests.

A permanent directory, listing all the names and grave stone numbers of those buried in the cemetery, is being planned for installation at the site. Three who were originally buried there have been removed to another burial site by their families.

The cemetery, several acres in size, is now accessible to visitors from Centech Boulevard, where there is a sign and walkway. Until recently, the cemetery was difficult to see from the road, but a large swath of woodland has been thinned out, making the area visible. A massive stone water tower identifies the location.

1041 patients of the former Grafton State Hospital, fourteen of them veterans, were buried here (all were unclaimed by relatives). A white obelisk in the center is joined to a bronze marker, listing the veterans names and grave numbers. They are now also identified by a United States flag marker. Graves are marked with a 6X12 inch granite marker. Only a few of those buried within have actual names and dates.

According to unofficial records given to Town Clerk Maureen Clark a number of years ago, the first Grafton State Hospital patient was buried at the cemetery on October 22, 1917 and the last one on February 17, 1973. Grafton State Hospital closed more than 30 years ago.

The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as SRW801.