The Old Letchworth Village Cemetery in Stony Point

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  Amy Cutler

  :: 28 August 2017 18:19:58

  The Old Letchworth Village Cemetery 1914 - 1967. The resting place of some ~900 patients of the now defunct Letchworth Village asylum. Identified solely by number impressed upon t-shaped steel markers. Their identities obscured by a society where relation to the "feeble-minded" and "feeble-bodied" was thought to bring shame to a family. It was not until 2007 that the individuals laid to rest here were memorialized by a large bronze plaque featuring each of the identifiable names found in old ledgers. Since then, a number of the steel grave markers have been replaced by proper headstones, funded by later generations of the deceased. We had previously paid a visit to Letchworth Village earlier this spring. Yet it was not until later that we read about the existence of an abandoned cemetery. Determined to find it, I took to Google Maps satellite and scanned areas surrounding the asylum. Searching for the distinctive dot pattern of a graveyard in the woods. Upon finding an area that vaguely resembled a graveyard, I dropped a pin to geotag the location. Some months later, we returned to the area and took the opportunity to search for the forgotten. Lo and behold, there it was, down a short path off Call Hollow Road.