Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries

Preserving Rhode Island's historic burial places
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Links & Resources

Organizations, cemetery resources, preservation information, and articles related to Rhode Island historic cemeteries

General Resources

RI Historical Society
Farber Gravestone Collection
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
RI Genealogical Society
Association for Gravestone Studies
Find a Grave
Rhode Island Sons of the American Revolution
Preserve Rhode Island
Cape Cod Gravestones
Newport Common Burying Ground Brochure
BillionGraves
RIP Newport
Gravestone Cleaning
RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission
Rhode Island Veterans Grave Flagging

Newspaper & Magazine Articles

Valley Breeze

  • 08/15/2018 — Historic cemetery cleanup brings town’s forgotten history to light
  • 03/27/2019 — Restoring history: Husband and wife team lead the charge to preserve local cemeteries
  • 08/12/2020 — Rediscovered cemetery a treasure trove of history in Lincoln
  • 03/10/2021 — Lost but not forgotten
  • 03/17/2021 — Lincoln maps out its cemeteries
  • 04/14/2021 — Volunteers restore forgotten cemetery
  • 10/21/2021 — Cemetery remains discovered on Cato Street
  • 08/04/2022 — Persistence pays off in honoring Civil War veteran at Bernon Cemetery
  • 10/13/2022 — With no official owner, questions over who will fix Cook Cemetery
  • 02/09/2023 — Historians wanting to honor Bathsheba Sherman raise funds to repair headstone
  • 08/03/2023 — Glocester 'cemetery guy' reaches goal in five years
  • 08/17/2023 — Volunteers restore Hotchkiss Cemetery
  • 09/07/2023 — Mencuccis praised for work restoring Civil War soldier's grave
  • 11/01/2023 — Volunteers unearth another lost cemetery in North Providence
  • 06/26/2024 — Pawtucket police investigating claims related to damage at cemetery
  • 07/03/2024 — Oak Hill Cemetery trustee makes only partial payment for tree removal amid disrepair
  • 10/09/2024 — Civil War cremains found, shipped to Pawtucket for burial
  • 11/07/2024 — David Lapham’s 18th century gravestone re-buried in Lincoln; mystery lives on
  • 08/07/2025 — The little-known history of a hidden cemetery off the highway
  • 10/16/2025 — Who owns Oak Hill Cemetery? Records spotlight a complex paper trail
  • 11/20/2025 — Group authorized to clean up Woonsocket cemetery
  • 02/19/2026 — Family burial lots allowed by potential new Scituate ordinance
  • 09/10/2026 — Cemetery wall repairs back in state's hands

Providence Journal

  • 08/26/2016 — Preserving a legacy
  • 12/10/2018 — Stories amid the stones: Arnold Burying Ground
  • 10/15/2020 — Mystery: 1736 headstone discovered in tree trunk by new Rhode Island homeowners
  • 02/17/2023 — Once lost, this rediscovered Cranston burial plot may hold a Revolutionary War veteran
  • 03/31/2023 — Searching for clues about RI's early settlers on a walking tour of 5 Exeter cemeteries
  • 04/15/2024 — Do RI's historic cemeteries need more protection?
  • 04/16/2024 — The strangest places to find historical cemeteries in RI
  • 04/28/2024 — They were buried anonymously a century ago. Now their stories are part of a history lesson.
  • 05/27/2024 — How a group of RI students helped ensure Civil War veterans weren't forgotten this Memorial Day

Other Publications

  • EcoRI — 10/03/2022 — Historic Cemeteries Could See Grave Impacts of Climate Change in the Ocean State
  • WPRI.COM — 12/09/2019 — New push to get abandoned dead out of crumbling RI mausoleum
  • WPRI.COM — 06/19/2020 — Hidden History: Why the smallest state has the biggest African burial ground in the country
  • NewportRI.com — 09/30/2021 — There’s a lot of history lurking in Newport County’s cemeteries
  • NewportRI.com — 10/22/2016 — Centuries-old gravestones returned to the Common Burying Ground
  • Construction Equipment Guide — 12/10/2009 — Rehabilitation of Rhode Island’s Route 37 Unearths Long-Forgotten Cemetery
  • Johnston Sunrise — 12/01/2022 — Grave Responsibility
  • NRI NOW — 12/07/2022 — Town to take possession of two historic cemeteries in North Smithfield
  • Turn to Ten — 09/07/2023 — NBC 10 I-Team: More complaints over cemetery conditions, but is a solution in sight?
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation — Fall 2020 — At God's Little Acre, Clues to the African American History of Newport, Rhode Island
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