Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery in Middletown
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NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. 1. Name of Property Historic name: ____Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery ___________________ Other names/site number: ______________________________________ Name of related multiple property listing: __________Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane____________________________ (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Location Street & number: __south of the intersection of Silvermine Road and O’Brien Drive City or town: _Middletown_________ State: ___CT_________ County: ____Middlesex____ Not For Publication: Vicinity: ____________________________________________________________________________ 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ___ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: ___national ___statewide ___local Applicable National Register Criteria: ___A ___B ___C ___D Signature of certifying official/Title: Date ______________________________________________ State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting official: Date Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government 1 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery Middlesex County, CT Name of Property County and State ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) _____________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action ____________________________________________________________________________ 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Private: Public – Local Public – State X Public – Federal Category of Property (Check only one box.) Building(s) District X Site Structure Object Sections 1-6 page 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery Middlesex County, CT Name of Property County and State Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Noncontributing _____________ ___ ___ buildings _____1_ ____ _____________ sites _____________ _____________ structures ____ 1_______ ______1___ __ objects _____2_______ ______1____ __ Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register __0_______ ____________________________________________________________________________ 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) ___________________ _Funerary: cemetery___ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) ___________________ __Funerary: cemetery__ ___________________ ___________________ ____ ______________ Sections 1-6 page 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery Middlesex County, CT Name of Property County and State _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) ___________________ ___________________ _____N/A______________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) Principal exterior materials of the property: ________N/A________________ Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Paragraph The Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery (Hospital Cemetery) is located within the Connecticut Valley Hospital campus, formerly known as the Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane, in Middletown, Connecticut. The Hospital Cemetery is situated east of the main hospital campus, approximately one half-mile down a hill along O’Brien Drive and abutting Silvermine Road. It has a rural setting. The Hospital Cemetery is laid out in two sections, both featuring linear rows and identically shaped cast-concrete markers with simple numeric labels. The earlier section dates to 1878, while the latter section dates to 1894. In its entirety, the Hospital Cemetery comprises 2.78 acres and includes 1,681 numbered graves. Burials date from 1878 to 1957 and represent the final resting place of patients who died while being treated at the Connecticut Valley Hospital. The Connecticut Valley Hospital was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 under Criterion A for its association with the broad patterns of institutional care; Criterion B for its association with Clifford Beers, the founder of the mental hygiene movement; and Criterion Section 7 page 4 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Connecticut Valley Hospital Cemetery Middlesex County, CT Name of Property County and State C for its association with Samuel Sloan, a nationally recognized architect who specialized in hospital design (Ohno 1983). The Hospital Cemetery, which was excluded from the previous documentation, is located approximately .60 miles from the Connecticut Valley Hospital Historic District and is visually and physically isolated from the main medical campus. While the Hospital Cemetery complements the Connecticut Valley Hospital Historic District, the resource is individually eligible at the state level for its association with significant historical events under the themes of Health/Medicine and Social History (Criterion A), and at the local level under Criterion C for its association with evolving practices in cemetery design. The 1,681 numbered, but otherwise anonymous, tombstones contribute to the Hospital Cemetery’s significance, along with the markers’ ordered arrangement, and the cemetery’s austere landscaping. Those elements reflect noteworthy aspects of social history and are characteristic of government-managed, single-grave cemeteries of the late nineteenth century. The Hospital Cemetery meets the requirements for individual inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria Consideration D for its significance derived from direct and particular historical association with the development and evolution of the Connecticut Valley Hospital, and practices of mental health treatment. Contributing resources include the Hospital Cemetery’s original 198 gravestones (numbered 1-198) which are counted as one object, and the landscaping, including the overall cemetery design, the location and siting of plant materials, and the placement and arrangement of the markers, which is counted as one site. Although they match the original makers in terms of design, materials, and scale, markers numbered 199-1681 were replaced over the last 15-20 years, and therefore are counted as one non-contributing object. ______________________________________________________________________________ Narrative Description The Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane, now known as the Connecticut Valley Hospital, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1985. At the time of the nomination, the Hospital Cemetery was excluded from the National Register district boundaries. While earlier documentation examined the development and evolution of the cohesive medical campus, this nomination reviews the Hospital Cemetery’s significant association