Walk among the Massachusettsns who came before.
This cemetery is part of the former Monson Developmental Center, a Massachusetts state institution whose grounds have been in state control since 1854, when an almshouse was built to shelter poor immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in Ireland. The site later became the State Primary School and, from 1898, the state's Hospital for Epileptics, eventually growing into a large developmental center that closed in 2012. The property was listed on the National Register in 1994.
Monson Developmental Center - Cemetery is a cemetery in Monson, Hampden County. It is one of 14 cemeteries documented in Hampden County, among 3,815 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 42.1502, -72.3297 near Monson. The nearest cataloged historic site is Monson Dev. Center - Superintendent's House (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Monson Developmental Center - Barn, Monson Developmental Center - Barn, and Monson Developmental Center - Barn - Bull Pens.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The Monson Developmental Center Cemetery on State Avenue is the institutional burying ground of the state facility at Monson, opened in 1898 as the Massachusetts Hospital for Epileptics and later the Monson Developmental Center. Dating to about 1940, it holds the graves of residents who died in the institution's care, a landscape now recognized for its social history. The cemetery is a contributing property in a National Register historic district.
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