Located primarily in West Greenwich, with smaller portions extending south into Exeter and north into Coventry, central Rhode Island's Big River Management Area [BRMA], though encompassing just 8,300 acres, is home to nearly fifty cemeteries.

Thanks due in large part to Blanche F. Albro’s handwritten catalog of over 140 West Greenwich cemeteries in the 1970’s, as well as James N. Arnold’s exhaustive gravestone transcription efforts throughout Rhode Island in the 1890’s, 37 of these lots have been located and registered with the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission [RIHCC] as of 2023.  Some of these lots-- sadly, far too few-- properly maintained and tended to, are delights to visit, both for the casual passerby as well as the studious genealogist, diligently recording data in the proverbial “old family burial ground”.  Some, whether victims of vandalism, carelessness, or simply centuries of neglect, are barely distinguishable from the forest that has gradually reclaimed them.  Others have been wiped utterly from our landscape, leaving nothing behind but perhaps a broken fragment of stone or two.  And some have simply been lost to the march of time and an ever-shifting topography; recorded at some point in the past, but now buried beneath decades of briars, brambles and felled trees, hidden from view, awaiting rediscovery.

Nearly twenty-five years in the making, GardensOfStone.org will present a detailed record of all registered lots located within the BRMA.  Because we have focused on such a relatively small number of cemeteries, these forty or so lots were able to be studied in their minutest detail, resulting in what we hope will be a far more complete recording of them than ever before.  Extensive efforts were undergone to first locate, then excavate-- and in the event of broken or delaminated stones, reassemble-- “lost” or “missing” burial markers that were recorded in the past, but were no longer immediately evident within the cemetery said to contain them.  You will also find stones that will be completely new to the historical record, discovered throughout the process of clearing and cataloguing these cemeteries.  It is our goal that users will be able to use the information provided here to enrich their understanding of their and their family’s own heritage, and possibly fill in a few blanks in their family tree as well.

Please take a moment to look around. Thank you for stopping in, and we hope to see you again soon!

To view a preview gallery, click HERE or use the navigation links at the top of the page.

To view sample cemetery pages, click HERE or use the navigations links at the top of the page.

As always, questions or comments, corrections or additional information are always welcome.  We can be reached at GardensOfStone@outlook.com.

Stay tuned, happy exploring, and BE SAFE!