There's a ton of buildings surrounding us here in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Yeah, there are. There's a lot of razor wire and high fences, too. Well, that makes sense.

The Rhode Island Department of Corrections prison is on the other side of the road from us.

Right. There's some large buildings that are currently the Rhode Island Department of Human

Services right next to us as well. Yep, that's true. That used to be the hospital for the insane

back when that was the term that they used. And there's a medical hospital over that way.

There's a lot of state service buildings here in this huge complex. So this whole area is about

one square mile. It was once the village of

Howard in the southern section of Cranston. Now the state purchased the land back in the mid-1800s

to turn it into a prison, almshouse, asylum, and so on. Okay, got it. Now, this area was also the land

used for the Rhode Island State burial grounds. Hospital patients and inmates who

would no loved ones to claim them after death were buried here with nothing but a small

numbered marker as a record of who lies below. Now sometimes after a burial, even months or

years later, sometimes family would come in and pay to have the body dug up so it could

be buried again in a family burial ground someplace else.

Okay, so are we here to find a lost grave?

We are, Ray. We're looking for grave number 599.

One such grave that was dug up for re-interment.

But grave diggers were shocked to find the head was missing.

I'm Jeff Belanger, and welcome to episode 283 of the New England Legends podcast.

And I'm Ray Ozier.

Thank you for coming along with us as we explore

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