I honestly wouldn't mind if my grave ended up being overgrown and forgotten as long as it didn't get vandalized or the cemetery ended up being trashed. I know of a few located deep inside dense forests and they are some of the most serene, downright peaceful places to "rest in peace."
Some "get moved". In my youth we knew someone whose business was that. Dead, we can be put in a container that sprouts a tree. Cremation turns everything into carbon. The funeral business is big and the concept of an afterlife fills the pews. Sanest method I know of is quick burial in a cotton sheet in a determined area with a small marker. Give the bodies a hundred years to compost and then turn it over for crops. It would be loamy earth not desert. Monuments and funerals are for the living.
Looks like tomb raiders in the mausoleum! Why would a business pay for maintenance its just an expense! This is why graveyards should be run councils etc so this doesnt happen!
Yeah,.... like, REALLY. What were they even THINKING. I will be cremated. I can not even understand using land... PRECIOUS LAND for dead bodies. I wonder how many millions of miles of our Earth's epidermis is slated for dead body burial. UGH.
It also comes down to time as well. The surviving family may not have had a personal relationship with someone who died long ago, so it isn't a habit to go visit and maintain a grave for someone they don't really know.
This is disrespect towards the living, not the dead. It's the living who now have to clean this mess up and spend millions to do so. People should not be interred in mausoleums
Old cemeteries no longer have family members alive to care for the dead. People die themselves of move away. In some countries you pay ahead 100-200 years for ‘property management’ and in other countries the grave is non permanent and you are dug up and cremated and a new person buried in your spot. This way the cemetery is always visited by the living.
Puts a new meaning to creamation. With creamation , you have the ability to sprinkle the loved ones ashes in places they loved. This is awful to see loved ones left like this.
Shameful that cities do not take care of cemeteries when the owners of the cemeteries give up on them....I live where a city near by was sued by the families of buried loved ones for not maintaining the cemetery and for violating rules for the crematorium!! These families won and new owners of the cemetery are taking beautiful care of it now. Very sad and glad that there's hope for it!! xo
I am completely shocked that this is possible. In my country this would never happen. Even the cemeteries that are closed down are still being kept and taken care of by the cities they are in.
This was a privately owned mausoleum. The last owner died, and she didn't allocate money or another person after her to care for it. Not the cemeteries fault. Still a bummer, but not on those that don't own it, to spend their money to maintain it. Just bury me thank you lol
Let me put it this way. All cemeteries are businesses. They are there to generate money for the owner. When that money dries up, the owner abandons it or sells it. Sooner or later it will be destroyed or forgotten, that's why my wife and I will be cremated. Have no idea why people think they will rest there forever.
This is really sad. People expected that their loved ones remains would be safe in a lovely building forever and now it’s a hazardous wreck. Btw, if you’re in a building during the day and don’t have a light on, people going by outside won’t be able to see you unless you stand right in front of a window.
How can this place be forgotten like this? This is really sad and this happens all around the world each and every day and it is never reported nobody does anything about it it's just sad. These are someone's loved ones😢😢😢
There are places like this all over the world. Perhaps not mausoleums. But graveyards for sure. I live in a rural area. And there are tiny graveyards all over the place with worn down tombstones with long forgotten people. Mostly from the 19th and 18th century. If they are taken care of at all it’s usually volunteers or Veterans groups who place flags on Civil and Revolutionary War vets graves.
Sadly, this is more common than you'd like to believe. There are cemeteries like this all over the United States and Europe. Many cemeteries ran out of money when they ran out of room because they could no longer sell plots, which is why it's so important for them to invest their profits to ensure continued income for maintenance.
I'm on a cemetery board in upstate NY. I don't know how it's done in RI, but in NY, cemeteries' finances are carefully monitored by the NYS Division of Cemeteries to keep cemeteries from going defunct and prevent this sort of thing from happening. Because once a cemetery ceases operations, care of the property reverts to the local government, and that care is only good to the extent that the locality is willing to fund it. It seems like something well-meaning volunteers can take on, but consider: when talking about relocating remains, for instance, is that it requires a court order to so much as legally budge a casket an inch. There are a hundred little moving parts like that when trying to ameliorate a situation such as this. So an ounce of prevention really is worth all the cure in the world. Ultimately, this is a situation only the city of Cranston can fix, but the unclaimed dead don't vote.
As resident of a Nearby province, I can clarify that this is located near Roger Williams Park, In the State of Rhode Island. Been by it many times and it is indeed terribly dilapidated.
I've been by a few times but too chicken to go in. Not afraid of the dead, more worried about the locals calling cops on me. Although my neighbor is a Cranston cop and when I asked him if they keep an eye on the mausoleum, he said 'nah, we have enough problems with the living'
I don't understand leaving a body in a place like this in the first place. I would choose to decay naturally and quicky, not be an sticky grotesque corpse for a 100 years.
Breaks my heart to see this!!! This is why I REFUSE to be in a casket or buried! My last wishes are to be cremated so my family can take me wherever they go..
Edit: Oops, I should have waited like two more minutes before posting this comment. I've seen RUclipsrs that clean up yards for free. It would be nice to see one of them come & clean up the cemetery. They could get several videos or of this and PROBABLY local and/or national recognition for doing so. This would be one of the most noble and honorable things one could do.
Actually there's a huge cemetery in England with beautiful big statues etc and it was left to ruin. Then a bunch of people got together started cleaning it up and tgen restorers volunteered and fixed tge stones etc and now it's beautiful. I can't remember the name of it. But there where a few progress videos on the progress of it. It's now amazingly beautiful
If State owned, all funerals and pricing would be EXTREMELY high, non negotiable, and every facet of the requirements for mourners of the decedant would be nearly overbearing. I have been in the funeral profession for many years. Competition in private businesses keeps prices low due to competition. Privately owned funerial businesses have a greater leeway in pricing and tailoring arrangements that are cost effective (for the aged or destitute) and the ability to taylor the service arrangements to be meaningful, personally fitting and "cost effective" for the survivors of the deceased. Every funeral is different as are the people that die. A highly regulated "state" funeral operation cannot adequately and effectively supply these varied concerns at reasonable costs.
this is an example of a city owned cemetery, since the sisters died without a will it went to the state and by default the city. Thats why they keep referencing the city not doing anything but minimum. Gov is never the solution as they have not provided solutions but more spending and regulations.
@@Inboden69As a cemetery board member, I can verify this. If a cemetery goes defunct, it reverts to the local government, and they often don't put the minimum into maintenance. It's not unheard-of for all the monuments to be knocked over flat so that it's easier for a DPW crew to mow. I am by no means anti-government, but this is one area for which I would make an exception. The local government doesn't want to be involved, and you don't want them involved, either.
@@johnsherman6718I am curious about the financials, specifically profit, of a traditional burial vs. cremation. Is there a rent-a-casket for the viewing? Do they still embalm you if cremation option is chosen. I suppose it varies case by case and how long your family wants to keep you on ice. Too bad viking burials are frowned upon. I would love to go out on a raft set on fire with bow and arrow, what an epic way to return yourself back to dirt.
This was extremely interesting guys, you took a lot of careful time with detail. Very well produced. One can tell by reading the comments how you stretched peoples thought envelopes. A thousand thumbs up ❤!
This all HAS to be the result of vandals. If left alone and abandoned it would NEVER look like this. So sad. As to the graves, it's "ashes to ashes" and the dead don't know or care how nature will overtake their graves.
To some of the people posting thinking that maybe these coffins were just thrown about (after the bodies were removed professionally to be cremated). I DOUBT IT. Not even the mcdonald's or walmart cheapo types of businesses would do that, and just leave the old caskets out and about and all damaged. More than likely, these all were just vandalized. As to what happened to the remains that were once inside, I couldn't even tell ya. If they were relegated to just bones, people probably just tossed or shoveled them around various locations inside the mausoleum. Actual bodies (newer or mummified), I couldn't even speculate where they would end up. But no, I HIGHLY DOUBT any cremation or mortuary service would go disinter a body IN THIS FASHION.
There are forgotten and lost cemeteries all over the world. I would rather see a cemetery be lost to the forest than to be vandalized and desecrated. I once saw a video of a family cemetery in the woods close to where the family home had once been vandalized and grave robbers had attempted to dig up two of the family members. They suspected that the robbers had failed to open the underground vaults and had vandalized the many of the stones crosses and sculptures in an act of revenge for being unable to access the burial vaults. When a large mausoleum is abandoned that is a tragedy on whole different level. So many people affected.
Unless you are famous few of us will be remembered beyond the lifetime of our children. The cemetery where my plot is has graves nearly 150 years old. Some of these people will only be remembered in someone's geneology, if the name on a page is even read. But we are all precious. Our lives do matter more then we can imagine. Keep living for each other.
Cranston, R.I., I believe.That placarded casket marked RI Law gave it away. I saw another video of a newscast of families having remains of Family transported to other places.
I just want to say First off life long Rhode Island Resident and i know exactly where this Mausoleum is and why it's abandoned .. first off i do have to say your channel is the very first to video tape this Mausoleum and Cemetery in the day time outstanding work but the information you were saying is 1/4 correct and i really can sit here and correct what is correct information its just too much to put down it will turn into a 500 page novel ... The key points Price tag 3 million was correct but that was a few years ago now 5 or more million to remove the body"s 2 there are not 500 body"s inside about 200 bodies have been removed from family members ... but this is true dead bodies have been stolen from there WHY well i know why not getting into it ... 3 The State of RI will not touch this Mausoleum because its still Private Property the legal cost and the responsibility is insane and the City of Cranston RI will not even touch this problem to much $$$$$ Trying to make this short and sweet 4 not sure when this was Video taped but about a year ago the whole cemetery and Mausoleum area was cleaned up just in one year all the volunteers that help clean up the place was just giving the slime of the earth a clean slate of canvas to retrash the place and all the weeds and trees have just grown back like wildfire Ok just a few more 5 not sure who was inside but if you kept on going all the paper work and all the personal records are still inside the old Mausoleum and lastly 6 i was just laughing in a good way but at 23.47 mark the machine that was on the floor is a calculator yes the 100 pound calculator it was just like a typewriter .. again do have to say nice work how you 2 did a really nice job filming this place But Cranston is not a major city not even close it borders the City of Providence RI witch is the Capital city of Rhode Island and you Right its in that area that"s where all the scum live third world country and i am saying that really nicely
Well said I worked for a cemetery and yes this is private property and people pay more to be placed in a mausoleum which is the worst place to be placed than ground due to neglect and wooden caskets cost more and are a bad choice as gases explode them and don’t pay extra for vaults or seals on caskets in ground as water is allowed in and out. There is a lot of shady costs that Funeral homes charge to grieving families that’s a B S deal . I worked for one , very sad,😢
I still can't for the life of me, understand what would make an alleged human being want to do this to the dead. It looks like a lot of work with no guarantee of finding anything of value within.
In Europe they vacate the crypts after 25 years, cremate the remains, and prepare for the next occupant. It costs a lot of money to maintain these sites, so the only way they can provide care is to resell them.
Omg, this is terrible. It is so bad to see that people don't care. Another cemetery that is bad is the one Hurricane Katrina hit. With the flooding the caskets settled on top of each other and it is abandoned also. You can see bones in some of the graves that's open. It is on a busy street as well. It seems like something could be done for these places. Such a tragedy. Thanks for another great video.
Appalling failure of the municipal authorities. Its also appalling that the internment records no longer exist.. how can this be? Its not even 100 years old! Our parish church in England has internment records going back to 1500... I mean people were stjll being interred there in the 50s...
This is heartbreaking. Cemeteries are sacred places. These people were once like me and you. Human remains should be treated with respect and given dignity. This is just a disgrace.
I’m used to cemeteries being run by local authorities and thank God this wouldn’t happen. Mausoleums are much more scarce here and those that are wouldn’t end up like this. It’s so sad to see this happen. It must have cost the families a lot of money to have their loved ones in a mausoleum. When I first saw videos of mausoleums I thought it was a lovely way to be “buried” but now seeing how so many are abandoned and trashed they make my blood run cold.
City cemeteries are no better. They’re about as badly neglected with the only maintenance done by the city consisting of them cutting the grass once a month… maybe… probably… possibly… Any knocked over headstones or damaged graves have to be dealt with by the family or volunteers.
Did anyone else notice the variety of bricks being used to seal the vaults? Incredible. Looks like they got them from scrap yards with different company names imprinted on them. Some look very old.
I understand the people in the caskets are a source of moisture but I'm surprised the caskets rust out like they do being in dry, above ground concrete cubbies
Whoever those two sisters were that inherited the place but did nothing to sell it or somehow preserve it before they died makes me think they were either nuts or simply didn’t care. Would like to know if they themselves are buried there? Probably not.
Never choose to be interred in a mausoleum. When the funds dry up, so does the maintenance, and this is what you get. It might happen fifty years down the road or a hundred, but it will happen.
Well if the bodies were embalmed they are hazardous! My friend is an embalmer and funeral director he told me that the chemicals used for embalming are highly carcinogenic and toxic! Little known fact there is a high death rate of morticians because of daily exposure to such chemicals
The state needs to step in. There is absolutely no other option. Take care of this now while the building is still standing and you can get the bodies out instead of waiting until it collapses and you have a disaster on your hands.
This is one of the reasons the emerging concept of composting bodies makes so much sense. The disappointment of how terribly caskets decay over time; especially when they are often marketed as sealed, etc. Unless a body is sealed in a vault, decay will happen. I really respect the Jewish tradition of no embalming and burial in a wooden coffin with holes drilled in the body to let nature reclaim the body as is intended by our creator.
Oh My Goodness! I am shocked at seeing this video and also puzzled. I see numerous vaults in this Mausoleum opened, where are the bodies? This is terrible. I heard him say that maybe they were cremated after it became abandoned. This is sick and truly sad.
I’ve seen a few news videos of family members having their loved ones removed and relocated to another cemetery. I also saw a news video of a local funeral director has offered to move the bodies but the city doesn’t have the money todo it.
The caskets that are rusted are made of steel or stainless steel. Any solid 32ozs. Or 48ozs. Copper & Bronze caskets would be in perfect condition and sealed airtite. Airtite sealed copper & bronze caskets stay perfect in mausoleum or burial vaults in the ground. My paternal grandfather, my maternal grandparents, my father's maternal grandparents, my mother's brother & my father's mother's brother were buried in a cemetery I won't reveal. Their vaults were sinking into a nearby broken bulkhead into a river. We were told they had to be removed after the cemetery sounded the graves in the family plot. We decided to move all the bodies to a new family plot in a new cemetery. I'm a Medical Examiner and a Licensed Funeral Director, so we bought a new family plot in a beautiful cemetery on Long Island. When we broke open the burial vaults the bronze caskets were still brand new. We had to open the caskets as required by the Board Of Health to check for leaks even though they were dead between 15 to 27 years respectively. Once opened, the bodies looked exactly as they did when I closed and sealed them 15 to 27 years earlier. I was shocked, but the embalming and the protection of the airtite bronze & copper caskets in inground burial vaults kept them perfectly preserved. We had the family at our family funeral home for 2 days to come see them one last time. Many younger family members got to see relatives dead years before they were born. We then buried them in the new family plot in the new cemetery. It's amazing how a body can stay intact after so many years. This is the God's honest truth. The cemetery we chose will never be abandoned as the graves are perpetually cared for forever by the Roman Catholic Church. Thank you, Dr. Gennaro Giammarino, III
It's definitely disheartening to see places that have fallen into disrepair. It's a reminder of the importance of proper maintenance and preservation. Thanks for watching Alice.
How horrific!!! It's absolutely disgusting that this & many other cemeteries have been abandoned & left ,to decay. Desecration of thousands of burial areas is so common....living humans have done all this without a care in the world....they do it just because! How disgusting! I'm not a believer of ghosts etc, butbif they did exist, I wish they'd hunt those who did this & will forever be haunted & hunted until they themselves pass away!! I'm completely mortified by this. Thanku for bringing this to the attention of you're viewer's.
Its sad not even Churches would help to clean outside area. We should be ashamed. The remaining in the mauselem should be cremated and the building torn down. Thank you for showing this video
Messing with graves, vandalizing crypts and pulling out caskets , opening them to steal jewelry or whatever from them, I can not think of a more powerful way to generate bad karma on the individuals. Would not want to be any of them
It’s both maddening and sad to see these places of rest in this state. It is one thing to see them deteriorate due to age and the lack of upkeep. However, the vandalism is completely horrific and heartbreaking.
This to me is sacrilege to not take proper care of these people's final resting places ! I don't know what city or even what state but all I can say is shame on you !
Cremation is the only way to ensure a dignified end . To have one’s relatives shoved away into damp vaults with strangers either side or under or over has to be horrible. My husbands cremated remains are in a lovely cedar box in our home.
I often wondered about these mausoleum places. I can't imagine it working as a business model. You buy a slot for a casket and then how is the place going to be maintained? It costs money to do that. Do any of these places have a business model that will pay to maintain these places forever? Ending up like this place seems inevitable.
Why are you all so shocked? Every mausoleum will end up like this in the future. Think about it ... building and adjacent cemetery fill up. No room to expand. Tennants arent exactly paying rent. Where does the money come from? May take 100 years or two, but it is inevitable! NEVER get buried in a mausoleum.
Interesting article about Joseph William Sternman 1902-1927, who is interred there. He was drowned in a submarine accident. The USS-4 was an S class Submarine that was struck and sunk by a US Coast Guard Destroyer. Men were trapped and air was running out. They sent a Morse coded message, “Is there any hope?” A Capt King sent back, “There is hope. Everything possible is being done.” Thwarted by bad weather, they were not able to be rescued. Very sad. All 40 men aboard perished. This young man was one of them. His widow is buried next to him.
Some of those plants/trees surrounding the gravestones are beautiful- they just need a little TLC. The inside...well, words can't describe. I would think the community could make a wkend (or two) volunteer clean- up and take care of their heritage.
Where I live those structures where they store people are all outside and well cared for - you get one for 50 years, then you have to renew it - if now renewed for a further 50 years then you are removed and cremated to free up to plot for someone else.
So sad almost makes you not want family to spend money to bury you somewhere nice. Just so it can be desecrated, vandalized, and forgotten. Cremation and scattering ashes is starting to sound better and better
Sometime in the last year or so, the city made this place much harder to enter. The windows are all boarded up and bolted metal bars are placed across them.
I was wondering why I couldn't find any recent RUclips videos of this place. That must be why. People can no longer get in, making it impossible for any RUclipsrs to film. Thanks for the update!
I truly don't understand how cities get that way. Maintaining them should be a priority. Out of respect for those buried there, and the families who not only paid a lot to bury their loved one but also should be able to visit them without all the decay & neglect 😤
The United States never ceases to amaze me. I don’t know anywhere else in the western world this would be allowed to happen. Yes grave yards get over grown but never torn apart by vandals and desecrated.
Someone needs to organize a group to go in and volunteer to help clean out the trees, shrubs and debris. Maybe after you do your videos you could organize on behalf of the people resting there and make it better.
State control of cemeteries and mausoleums is criminally negligent anywhere this can happen. Arrangements for guaranteed perpetual care before the first person can be buried or entombed in a facility should be required by law and strictly enforced.
It's not sad, the Bible states, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Just as your curiosity to go in it, my curiosity to open the caskets. The caskets are rotted, and rusted. The only thing that is sad, is even after death, trying to prevent decay, is not possible. Thanks for sharing an intriguing video sir.
Even though the cemetery is abandon, people still go there out of respect. All the vases, knickknacks, and statues look clean as they were just placed there.
FYI, the cemetery is NOT abandoned. In fact, there are several burials each month. I know this for a fact because I live just 200 yards away on the Providence side of the city line. One important fact : the cemetery and the mausoleum are NOT connected in any way other than proximity. The Oakland Cemetery was incorporated in the city of Cranston in the 1850s. Virtually all of the recent burials are in the better kept sections closest to Broad Street. If you access GOOGLE Earth and check the aerial view of the cemetery [Use this address : Oakland Cemetery, 1569 Broad St, Cranston, RI 02905], you'll notice an interesting anomaly. The majority of the recent burials are head to foot in what must have been the walkways between the original burial plots. I have personally seen very large funeral processions (20 cars or more) following a hearse through the gates. In fact, I have seen funeral processions so large that many cars had to park on Broad Street. The fact that there are still frequent burials would seem to indicate that SOMEONE owns or controls the cemetery property, and is collecting funds from the sale of grave sites. The question is WHO... and where is that money going ? FYI, there is a phone number listed for the cemetery, but I haven't bothered to call it. The Roger Williams Park Mausoleum (no connection whatsoever to the city park in Providence) was built in 1926 by a private investor, William Cullinan, on vacant land next to the cemetery. Mr. Cullinan and his family actually lived in a house on the property. His unmarried daughters continued to live in the house until they died in 2000 and 2002, both in their 90s. There were no heirs to the property (or else no one claimed it) and there was only $12,000 left in the endowment fund. Nowhere near what was needed to maintain the mausoleum. The building was already in bad shape when the Cullinan Sisters died. Unclaimed and not maintained, it has only gotten worse with the passage of time.
If you think this is bad, just walk into most any urban center and you’ll find at least one cemetery like this. I have seen infinitely worse than this. Evergreen Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia is beyond overgrown and the local community likes to use it as a dumping ground for their mattresses and - most peculiar of all - toilets. Knocked over headstones and overgrowth is common in older cemeteries, including city-managed cemeteries. The main thing preventing such places from becoming a jungle is usually families and volunteer organizations that dedicate their time to cleaning up and maintaining the grounds of these cemeteries.
I honestly wouldn't mind if my grave ended up being overgrown and forgotten as long as it didn't get vandalized or the cemetery ended up being trashed. I know of a few located deep inside dense forests and they are some of the most serene, downright peaceful places to "rest in peace."
Agree!
Some "get moved". In my youth we knew someone whose business was that. Dead, we can be put in a container that sprouts a tree. Cremation turns everything into carbon. The funeral business is big and the concept of an afterlife fills the pews. Sanest method I know of is quick burial in a cotton sheet in a determined area with a small marker. Give the bodies a hundred years to compost and then turn it over for crops. It would be loamy earth not desert. Monuments and funerals are for the living.
well overgrown is certainly vandalism because it’s neglect…
Looks like tomb raiders in the mausoleum!
Why would a business pay for maintenance its just an expense! This is why graveyards should be run councils etc so this doesnt happen!
You would be dead anyway... you wouldn't care
The problem with being buried inside a building is that sooner or later the building will no longer be maintained and it will decay and collapse...
Yeah,.... like, REALLY. What were they even THINKING. I will be cremated. I can not even understand using land... PRECIOUS LAND for dead bodies. I wonder how many millions of miles of our Earth's epidermis is slated for dead body burial. UGH.
Sadly it all comes down to $$ always the $$ it's pathetic.
It also comes down to time as well. The surviving family may not have had a personal relationship with someone who died long ago, so it isn't a habit to go visit and maintain a grave for someone they don't really know.
Good point
The city officials should be held accountable for this abomination!
Absolutely disgusting that people would let this happen. This shows zero respect for the dead or their living loved ones
This is disrespect towards the living, not the dead. It's the living who now have to clean this mess up and spend millions to do so. People should not be interred in mausoleums
@@agonzalez8924I agree
Old cemeteries no longer have family members alive to care for the dead. People die themselves of move away. In some countries you pay ahead 100-200 years for ‘property management’ and in other countries the grave is non permanent and you are dug up and cremated and a new person buried in your spot. This way the cemetery is always visited by the living.
The city officials should be held accountable for this abomination! Politicians promise everything and deliver nothing!
@timpritts1499 Same old really.
Puts a new meaning to creamation. With creamation , you have the ability to sprinkle the loved ones ashes in places they loved. This is awful to see loved ones left like this.
"Creamation," lol.
You can’t just sprinkle ashes anymore like you used to be able to do. You have to now get permission before spreading ashes
Shameful that cities do not take care of cemeteries when the owners of the cemeteries give up on them....I live where a city near by was sued by the families of buried loved ones for not maintaining the cemetery and for violating rules for the crematorium!! These families won and new owners of the cemetery are taking beautiful care of it now. Very sad and glad that there's hope for it!! xo
Maybe that's what families should do on this one and others. Where my mom and dad are they take good care of them. I guess I am lucky.
I am completely shocked that this is possible. In my country this would never happen. Even the cemeteries that are closed down are still being kept and taken care of by the cities they are in.
This was a privately owned mausoleum. The last owner died, and she didn't allocate money or another person after her to care for it. Not the cemeteries fault. Still a bummer, but not on those that don't own it, to spend their money to maintain it. Just bury me thank you lol
Well there’s no money because it’s all for the illegals or Ukrainians
Let me put it this way. All cemeteries are businesses. They are there to generate money for the owner. When that money dries up, the owner abandons it or sells it. Sooner or later it will be destroyed or forgotten, that's why my wife and I will be cremated. Have no idea why people think they will rest there forever.
This is really sad. People expected that their loved ones remains would be safe in a lovely building forever and now it’s a hazardous wreck.
Btw, if you’re in a building during the day and don’t have a light on, people going by outside won’t be able to see you unless you stand right in front of a window.
How can this place be forgotten like this? This is really sad and this happens all around the world each and every day and it is never reported nobody does anything about it it's just sad. These are someone's loved ones😢😢😢
There are places like this all over the world. Perhaps not mausoleums. But graveyards for sure. I live in a rural area. And there are tiny graveyards all over the place with worn down tombstones with long forgotten people. Mostly from the 19th and 18th century. If they are taken care of at all it’s usually volunteers or Veterans groups who place flags on Civil and Revolutionary War vets graves.
Sadly, this is more common than you'd like to believe. There are cemeteries like this all over the United States and Europe. Many cemeteries ran out of money when they ran out of room because they could no longer sell plots, which is why it's so important for them to invest their profits to ensure continued income for maintenance.
Sad fact . Time goes by and at some point you won't be remembered and nobody will know you name .
Spirituality thats the reason why, we are reincarnated and come back to the earth many times. And many dont remember their past life
This place is so sad. I visited a few years ago and it’s just awful seeing how overgrown and forgotten everything is.
Whete is this
I'm on a cemetery board in upstate NY. I don't know how it's done in RI, but in NY, cemeteries' finances are carefully monitored by the NYS Division of Cemeteries to keep cemeteries from going defunct and prevent this sort of thing from happening. Because once a cemetery ceases operations, care of the property reverts to the local government, and that care is only good to the extent that the locality is willing to fund it. It seems like something well-meaning volunteers can take on, but consider: when talking about relocating remains, for instance, is that it requires a court order to so much as legally budge a casket an inch. There are a hundred little moving parts like that when trying to ameliorate a situation such as this. So an ounce of prevention really is worth all the cure in the world. Ultimately, this is a situation only the city of Cranston can fix, but the unclaimed dead don't vote.
As resident of a Nearby province, I can clarify that this is located near Roger Williams Park, In the State of Rhode Island. Been by it many times and it is indeed terribly dilapidated.
I've been by a few times but too chicken to go in. Not afraid of the dead, more worried about the locals calling cops on me. Although my neighbor is a Cranston cop and when I asked him if they keep an eye on the mausoleum, he said 'nah, we have enough problems with the living'
I don't understand leaving a body in a place like this in the first place. I would choose to decay naturally and quicky, not be an sticky grotesque corpse for a 100 years.
I couldn't imagine how I'd react to someone plundering the grave of my family.
Breaks my heart to see this!!! This is why I REFUSE to be in a casket or buried! My last wishes are to be cremated so my family can take me wherever they go..
And you can go wherever they toss you. 🤗 I need to pick a spot.
@user-xj9du3kx7u You a very rude and disrespectful!
Edit: Oops, I should have waited like two more minutes before posting this comment.
I've seen RUclipsrs that clean up yards for free. It would be nice to see one of them come & clean up the cemetery. They could get several videos or of this and PROBABLY local and/or national recognition for doing so. This would be one of the most noble and honorable things one could do.
I'd do a lawn makeover if I had the equipment and if I lived closer to it!!
Actually there's a huge cemetery in England with beautiful big statues etc and it was left to ruin. Then a bunch of people got together started cleaning it up and tgen restorers volunteered and fixed tge stones etc and now it's beautiful. I can't remember the name of it. But there where a few progress videos on the progress of it. It's now amazingly beautiful
SideStep Adventures on RUclips does exactly that. Finds old cemeteries and cleans them up.
This is unbelievable. I can't believe no family members have complained about this
They are probably all dead unfortunately.
Well if like me, your the end of family line, then who gives a damn about you.? I wish I could find a forest to be buried in.
Since the cemetery is abandoned who do you complain to?. I would just take my family remains and move them to another cemetery.
@@Tazzman225 it's not that simple.
@@juliawigger9796 --- If you are able to remove your family remains from an abandon cemetery, who would stop you?
You are so respectful when you do these videos. This was very sad indeed.
All cemeteries should be owned and cared for by the municipality, not private corporations.
I feel if that were the case the price of funerals would absolutely skyrocket
If State owned,
all funerals and pricing would be EXTREMELY high, non negotiable, and every facet of the requirements for mourners of the decedant would be nearly overbearing.
I have been in the funeral profession for many years.
Competition in private businesses keeps prices low due to competition.
Privately owned funerial businesses have a greater leeway in pricing and tailoring arrangements that are cost effective (for the aged or destitute) and the ability to taylor the service arrangements to be meaningful, personally fitting and "cost effective" for the survivors of the deceased.
Every funeral is different as are the people that die.
A highly regulated "state" funeral operation cannot adequately and effectively supply these varied concerns at reasonable costs.
this is an example of a city owned cemetery, since the sisters died without a will it went to the state and by default the city. Thats why they keep referencing the city not doing anything but minimum. Gov is never the solution as they have not provided solutions but more spending and regulations.
@@Inboden69As a cemetery board member, I can verify this. If a cemetery goes defunct, it reverts to the local government, and they often don't put the minimum into maintenance. It's not unheard-of for all the monuments to be knocked over flat so that it's easier for a DPW crew to mow. I am by no means anti-government, but this is one area for which I would make an exception. The local government doesn't want to be involved, and you don't want them involved, either.
@@johnsherman6718I am curious about the financials, specifically profit, of a traditional burial vs. cremation. Is there a rent-a-casket for the viewing? Do they still embalm you if cremation option is chosen. I suppose it varies case by case and how long your family wants to keep you on ice. Too bad viking burials are frowned upon. I would love to go out on a raft set on fire with bow and arrow, what an epic way to return yourself back to dirt.
So sad, how can someone do that to someone's resting place.
This was extremely interesting guys, you took a lot of careful time with detail. Very well produced. One can tell by reading the comments how you stretched peoples thought envelopes. A thousand thumbs up ❤!
*Rest in heaven all those people souls.🙏.*
I believe in the soul. 🤍
All is temporary and soon we are all forgotten including our Graves.
This all HAS to be the result of vandals. If left alone and abandoned it would NEVER look like this. So sad. As to the graves, it's "ashes to ashes" and the dead don't know or care how nature will overtake their graves.
This is just so sad how can the city just forget about this cemetery
To some of the people posting thinking that maybe these coffins were just thrown about (after the bodies were removed professionally to be cremated). I DOUBT IT. Not even the mcdonald's or walmart cheapo types of businesses would do that, and just leave the old caskets out and about and all damaged. More than likely, these all were just vandalized. As to what happened to the remains that were once inside, I couldn't even tell ya. If they were relegated to just bones, people probably just tossed or shoveled them around various locations inside the mausoleum. Actual bodies (newer or mummified), I couldn't even speculate where they would end up. But no, I HIGHLY DOUBT any cremation or mortuary service would go disinter a body IN THIS FASHION.
people spend thousands of dollars for a casket just for it and the body rot away to dust,,,insane.
I found this to be quite a moving video to watch. It's appalling that peoples loved ones can be left like this and forgotten about.
There are forgotten and lost cemeteries all over the world. I would rather see a cemetery be lost to the forest than to be vandalized and desecrated. I once saw a video of a family cemetery in the woods close to where the family home had once been vandalized and grave robbers had attempted to dig up two of the family members. They suspected that the robbers had failed to open the underground vaults and had vandalized the many of the stones crosses and sculptures in an act of revenge for being unable to access the burial vaults. When a large mausoleum is abandoned that is a tragedy on whole different level. So many people affected.
That quoted price of $6,000 to remove the remains of one deceased is outlandish it doesn't cost that much in supplies and equipment.
Not including the cost of a re-interment site and possible grave opening with vault, it should be worth about $2,000 tops.
Puts into perspective how pointless life really is...we all just get forgotten
It's better to have experienced this life than to never have existed at all.
They have lived life just like you should ❤
I feel sorry for you and you fatalistic outlook. So sad... If you feel that way, then maybe your life is pointless.
Unless you are famous few of us will be remembered beyond the lifetime of our children. The cemetery where my plot is has graves nearly 150 years old. Some of these people will only be remembered in someone's geneology, if the name on a page is even read. But we are all precious. Our lives do matter more then we can imagine. Keep living for each other.
@@tambert3897What’s so great about it?
Cranston, R.I., I believe.That placarded casket marked RI Law gave it away. I saw another video of a newscast of families having remains of Family transported to other places.
You are correct
I just want to say First off life long Rhode Island Resident and i know exactly where this Mausoleum is and why it's abandoned .. first off i do have to say your channel is the very first to video tape this Mausoleum and Cemetery in the day time outstanding work but the information you were saying is 1/4 correct and i really can sit here and correct what is correct information its just too much to put down it will turn into a 500 page novel ... The key points Price tag 3 million was correct but that was a few years ago now 5 or more million to remove the body"s 2 there are not 500 body"s inside about 200 bodies have been removed from family members ... but this is true dead bodies have been stolen from there WHY well i know why not getting into it ... 3 The State of RI will not touch this Mausoleum because its still Private Property the legal cost and the responsibility is insane and the City of Cranston RI will not even touch this problem to much $$$$$ Trying to make this short and sweet 4 not sure when this was Video taped but about a year ago the whole cemetery and Mausoleum area was cleaned up just in one year all the volunteers that help clean up the place was just giving the slime of the earth a clean slate of canvas to retrash the place and all the weeds and trees have just grown back like wildfire Ok just a few more 5 not sure who was inside but if you kept on going all the paper work and all the personal records are still inside the old Mausoleum and lastly 6 i was just laughing in a good way but at 23.47 mark the machine that was on the floor is a calculator yes the 100 pound calculator it was just like a typewriter .. again do have to say nice work how you 2 did a really nice job filming this place But Cranston is not a major city not even close it borders the City of Providence RI witch is the Capital city of Rhode Island and you Right its in that area that"s where all the scum live third world country and i am saying that really nicely
Well said I worked for a cemetery and yes this is private property and people pay more to be placed in a mausoleum which is the worst place to be placed than ground due to neglect and wooden caskets cost more and are a bad choice as gases explode them and don’t pay extra for vaults or seals on caskets in ground as water is allowed in and out. There is a lot of shady costs that Funeral homes charge to grieving families that’s a B S deal . I worked for one , very sad,😢
Bodies stolen?
This is so sad. These are still people even if their no longer on this earth. Its heart breaking.
I still can't for the life of me, understand what would make an alleged human being want to do this to the dead. It looks like a lot of work with no guarantee of finding anything of value within.
Obviously a lot of sad individuals in this world.
prolly drug addicts@@frednugent2310
Well done video but also one of the saddest things I have ever seen.
In Europe they vacate the crypts after 25 years, cremate the remains, and prepare for the next occupant. It costs a lot of money to maintain these sites, so the only way they can provide care is to resell them.
Omg, this is terrible. It is so bad to see that people don't care. Another cemetery that is bad is the one Hurricane Katrina hit. With the flooding the caskets settled on top of each other and it is abandoned also. You can see bones in some of the graves that's open. It is on a busy street as well. It seems like something could be done for these places. Such a tragedy. Thanks for another great video.
Appalling failure of the municipal authorities.
Its also appalling that the internment records no longer exist.. how can this be? Its not even 100 years old! Our parish church in England has internment records going back to 1500...
I mean people were stjll being interred there in the 50s...
In the 90's. One grave was from 1998
This is so sad . No one's love one's should be treated like this. 😕
What is the name of this cemetery? God bless these souls 🙏🏻 ❤️
Death is final. Eventually, won't all cemeteries be this way? The dead really are gone.
This is heartbreaking. Cemeteries are sacred places. These people were once like me and you. Human remains should be treated with respect and given dignity. This is just a disgrace.
I’m used to cemeteries being run by local authorities and thank God this wouldn’t happen. Mausoleums are much more scarce here and those that are wouldn’t end up like this. It’s so sad to see this happen. It must have cost the families a lot of money to have their loved ones in a mausoleum. When I first saw videos of mausoleums I thought it was a lovely way to be “buried” but now seeing how so many are abandoned and trashed they make my blood run cold.
City cemeteries are no better. They’re about as badly neglected with the only maintenance done by the city consisting of them cutting the grass once a month… maybe… probably… possibly…
Any knocked over headstones or damaged graves have to be dealt with by the family or volunteers.
Did anyone else notice the variety of bricks being used to seal the vaults? Incredible. Looks like they got them from scrap yards with different company names imprinted on them. Some look very old.
I understand the people in the caskets are a source of moisture but I'm surprised the caskets rust out like they do being in dry, above ground concrete cubbies
Where exactly is this place? It's hard to believe that this could be in one of our big cities.
Whoever those two sisters were that inherited the place but did nothing to sell it or somehow preserve it before they died makes me think they were either nuts or simply didn’t care. Would like to know if they themselves are buried there? Probably not.
Yes I'd like to know their names and ethnicity.
Never choose to be interred in a mausoleum. When the funds dry up, so does the maintenance, and this is what you get. It might happen fifty years down the road or a hundred, but it will happen.
And now of sudden human body's are hazardous,,,wow what excuse they use to do anything that has to do with paying for maintenance..
Well if the bodies were embalmed they are hazardous! My friend is an embalmer and funeral director he told me that the chemicals used for embalming are highly carcinogenic and toxic! Little known fact there is a high death rate of morticians because of daily exposure to such chemicals
This is really making a good argument for cremation and scattering ashes.
The state needs to step in. There is absolutely no other option. Take care of this now while the building is still standing and you can get the bodies out instead of waiting until it collapses and you have a disaster on your hands.
This is one of the reasons the emerging concept of composting bodies makes so much sense. The disappointment of how terribly caskets decay over time; especially when they are often marketed as sealed, etc. Unless a body is sealed in a vault, decay will happen. I really respect the Jewish tradition of no embalming and burial in a wooden coffin with holes drilled in the body to let nature reclaim the body as is intended by our creator.
That is a biohazard in itself. And dehumanizing! This is probably done just to push people to your disgusting solution! You want this! Psychopath!
So heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing. 😭
You are so welcome. Thanks for watching our video.
It's sad too because there's still CREMAINS left behind....I feel sorry for the loved ones.
WTF! The city in which this cemetery is located should be ashamed. Disgraceful.
The city doesn’t own it
Oh My Goodness! I am shocked at seeing this video and also puzzled. I see numerous vaults in this Mausoleum opened, where are the bodies? This is terrible. I heard him say that maybe they were cremated after it became abandoned. This is sick and truly sad.
I’ve seen a few news videos of family members having their loved ones removed and relocated to another cemetery. I also saw a news video of a local funeral director has offered to move the bodies but the city doesn’t have the money todo it.
@@garylamontagne7230: Well I certainly hope that someone comes up with a viable solution. Because this is a terrible thing!
@@garylamontagne723012:13
Well this is Rhode Island, so I'm sure they have money for illegal immigrants, but none for this 🙄
@@kevincorbi6940
The home of Lovecraft.Was he alive he could write a terror tale about this.
Terrible that this happens in a country that sends space probes to the farthest boundaries of the space.
The problem with cemeteries and mausoleums is that without continued revenue coming in, there’s no money to pay for maintenance and upkeep.
The caskets that are rusted are made of steel or stainless steel. Any solid 32ozs. Or 48ozs. Copper & Bronze caskets would be in perfect condition and sealed airtite. Airtite sealed copper & bronze caskets stay perfect in mausoleum or burial vaults in the ground. My paternal grandfather, my maternal grandparents, my father's maternal grandparents, my mother's brother & my father's mother's brother were buried in a cemetery I won't reveal. Their vaults were sinking into a nearby broken bulkhead into a river. We were told they had to be removed after the cemetery sounded the graves in the family plot. We decided to move all the bodies to a new family plot in a new cemetery.
I'm a Medical Examiner and a Licensed Funeral Director, so we bought a new family plot in a beautiful cemetery on Long Island. When we broke open the burial vaults the bronze caskets were still brand new. We had to open the caskets as required by the Board Of Health to check for leaks even though they were dead between 15 to 27 years respectively. Once opened, the bodies looked exactly as they did when I closed and sealed them 15 to 27 years earlier. I was shocked, but the embalming and the protection of the airtite bronze & copper caskets in inground burial vaults kept them perfectly preserved. We had the family at our family funeral home for 2 days to come see them one last time. Many younger family members got to see relatives dead years before they were born. We then buried them in the new family plot in the new cemetery. It's amazing how a body can stay intact after so many years. This is the God's honest truth. The cemetery we chose will never be abandoned as the graves are perpetually cared for forever by the Roman Catholic Church.
Thank you,
Dr. Gennaro Giammarino, III
I could hear the anguish in your voice when you seen the grave covered by vines. This is very sad. I hope they can keep it cleaned up.
It's a shame what happens to some of these places. It's a disgrace. All that money spent has gone to waste.
It's definitely disheartening to see places that have fallen into disrepair. It's a reminder of the importance of proper maintenance and preservation. Thanks for watching Alice.
Nothing but DISRESPECT
How horrific!!! It's absolutely disgusting that this & many other cemeteries have been abandoned & left ,to decay. Desecration of thousands of burial areas is so common....living humans have done all this without a care in the world....they do it just because! How disgusting! I'm not a believer of ghosts etc, butbif they did exist, I wish they'd hunt those who did this & will forever be haunted & hunted until they themselves pass away!! I'm completely mortified by this. Thanku for bringing this to the attention of you're viewer's.
Its sad not even Churches would help to clean outside area. We should be ashamed. The remaining in the mauselem should be cremated and the building torn down.
Thank you for showing this video
Messing with graves, vandalizing crypts and pulling out caskets , opening them to steal jewelry or whatever from them, I can not think of a more powerful way to generate bad karma on the individuals. Would not want to be any of them
You need to wear a protective mask from the germs and mold 😮
13:29. That's an old adding machine. Kinda like a mechanical calculator.
It’s both maddening and sad to see these places of rest in this state. It is one thing to see them deteriorate due to age and the lack of upkeep. However, the vandalism is completely horrific and heartbreaking.
Since the burial records have been lost someone needs to go there to do readings of the name plates and post photos of them on Find a Grave.
This to me is sacrilege to not take proper care of these people's final resting places ! I don't know what city or even what state but all I can say is shame on you !
So.....we don't get to know what city this is in or....? What's the big secret?
Cremation is the only way to ensure a dignified end . To have one’s relatives shoved away into damp vaults with strangers either side or under or over has to be horrible. My husbands cremated remains are in a lovely cedar box in our home.
What did this place look like in 1996 for people to be interred there?
I often wondered about these mausoleum places. I can't imagine it working as a business model. You buy a slot for a casket and then how is the place going to be maintained? It costs money to do that. Do any of these places have a business model that will pay to maintain these places forever? Ending up like this place seems inevitable.
im in philippines and i thank you to your cemetery tour i love it
Thanks for watching our video.
Why are you all so shocked? Every mausoleum will end up like this in the future. Think about it ... building and adjacent cemetery fill up. No room to expand. Tennants arent exactly paying rent. Where does the money come from? May take 100 years or two, but it is inevitable! NEVER get buried in a mausoleum.
Interesting article about Joseph William Sternman 1902-1927, who is interred there. He was drowned in a submarine accident. The USS-4 was an S class Submarine that was struck and sunk by a US Coast Guard Destroyer. Men were trapped and air was running out. They sent a Morse coded message, “Is there any hope?” A Capt King sent back, “There is hope. Everything possible is being done.” Thwarted by bad weather, they were not able to be rescued. Very sad. All 40 men aboard perished. This young man was one of them. His widow is buried next to him.
Wow thats a crazy story. Wish I was able to include that info into our video. Thanks for watching!
@@abandonedcentral His wife is buried next to him…..
what is the difrence between casket and coffin ?
Caskets are rectangular and a coffin has more of a sarcophagus shape
Why don't you guys do something about it and try to clean it up
Im sure it’s owned by the city now and can’t be touched
So if the empty caskets have had the bodies removed to cremation, what and how did they remove the body? Does not make sense.
That was a nice addendum. Thank you!
Some of those plants/trees surrounding the gravestones are beautiful- they just need a little TLC. The inside...well, words can't describe. I would think the community could make a wkend (or two) volunteer clean- up and take care of their heritage.
If it's a denomination cemetery, the nearest affiliated church should get a youth project going.
Where I live those structures where they store people are all outside and well cared for - you get one for 50 years, then you have to renew it - if now renewed for a further 50 years then you are removed and cremated to free up to plot for someone else.
So sad almost makes you not want family to spend money to bury you somewhere nice. Just so it can be desecrated, vandalized, and forgotten. Cremation and scattering ashes is starting to sound better and better
How can people forget about this place
They should have removed all the bodies before it got to this condition.
This sad and so shameful that nobody has complained this is their final Resting Place OMG
@@tamaramadison7563 I agree with you on that matter young lady 💐🌹
Sometime in the last year or so, the city made this place much harder to enter. The windows are all boarded up and bolted metal bars are placed across them.
I was wondering why I couldn't find any recent RUclips videos of this place. That must be why. People can no longer get in, making it impossible for any RUclipsrs to film. Thanks for the update!
I truly don't understand how cities get that way. Maintaining them should be a priority. Out of respect for those buried there, and the families who not only paid a lot to bury their loved one but also should be able to visit them without all the decay & neglect 😤
Need those guys who go around cleaning up peoples overgrown yards for free .
The United States never ceases to amaze me. I don’t know anywhere else in the western world this would be allowed to happen. Yes grave yards get over grown but never torn apart by vandals and desecrated.
Parks and Recreation and the Genealogy Society should take over and care and tend to these Cemeteries, this is just breaking my heart..
Someone needs to organize a group to go in and volunteer to help clean out the trees, shrubs and debris. Maybe after you do your videos you could organize on behalf of the people resting there and make it better.
State control of cemeteries and mausoleums is criminally negligent anywhere this can happen. Arrangements for guaranteed perpetual care before the first person can be buried or entombed in a facility should be required by law and strictly enforced.
You know, I don't understand graveyards like that
You guys have got balls man. You would NOT catch me in that place, particularly on my own 😮
It's not sad, the Bible states, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Just as your curiosity to go in it, my curiosity to open the caskets. The caskets are rotted, and rusted. The only thing that is sad, is even after death, trying to prevent decay, is not possible. Thanks for sharing an intriguing video sir.
I just cannot understand how there are no records remaining of those buried and interred within.
What is this major city he's talking about? I live in the country and even family cemeteries are well kept.
Even though the cemetery is abandon, people still go there out of respect. All the vases, knickknacks, and statues look clean as they were just placed there.
FYI, the cemetery is NOT abandoned. In fact, there are several burials each month. I know this for a fact because I live just 200 yards away on the Providence side of the city line. One important fact : the cemetery and the mausoleum are NOT connected in any way other than proximity. The Oakland Cemetery was incorporated in the city of Cranston in the 1850s. Virtually all of the recent burials are in the better kept sections closest to Broad Street. If you access GOOGLE Earth and check the aerial view of the cemetery
[Use this address : Oakland Cemetery, 1569 Broad St, Cranston, RI 02905], you'll notice an interesting anomaly. The majority of the recent burials are head to foot in what must have been the walkways between the original burial plots. I have personally seen very large funeral processions (20 cars or more) following a hearse through the gates. In fact,
I have seen funeral processions so large that many cars had to park on Broad Street. The fact that there are still frequent burials would seem to indicate that SOMEONE owns or controls the cemetery property, and is collecting funds from the sale of grave sites. The question is WHO... and where is that money going ? FYI, there is a phone number listed for the cemetery, but I haven't bothered to call it.
The Roger Williams Park Mausoleum (no connection whatsoever to the city park in Providence) was built in 1926 by a private investor, William Cullinan, on vacant land next to the cemetery. Mr. Cullinan and his family actually lived in a house on the property. His unmarried daughters continued to live in the house until they died in 2000 and 2002, both in their 90s. There were no heirs to the property (or else no one claimed it) and there was only $12,000 left in the endowment fund. Nowhere near what was needed to maintain the mausoleum. The building was already in bad shape when the Cullinan Sisters died. Unclaimed and not maintained, it has only gotten worse with the passage of time.
Get ahold of the governor of that state that is a disgrace
If you think this is bad, just walk into most any urban center and you’ll find at least one cemetery like this.
I have seen infinitely worse than this. Evergreen Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia is beyond overgrown and the local community likes to use it as a dumping ground for their mattresses and - most peculiar of all - toilets.
Knocked over headstones and overgrowth is common in older cemeteries, including city-managed cemeteries. The main thing preventing such places from becoming a jungle is usually families and volunteer organizations that dedicate their time to cleaning up and maintaining the grounds of these cemeteries.
It’s a shame that places of the dead are forgotten 😢