Western State Hospital, Staunton, Virginia
Cemetery Photo Gallery

Below you will find photographs from the two Western State Hospital cemetery sites. These
photographs speak to our need for a memorial project. The people buried beneath these markers
once had names and identities, faces and flesh. They were human beings, they were not numbers.
A number is no way to commemorate the life a person has led, and that, of course, is what burial
markers are mostly all about. Help us to add a degree of respect and dignity for those individuals
who died at Western State Hospital in Staunton, Virginia, by honoring them with the names by
which they would have been known in life. Help us to restore broken and damaged markers.

 

Sign at the Original burial site

104 people are interred at the Original burial site. Only a very few stones have been erected at this site.

Far view of the Original site

Looking toward Richmond St. The fence is down in places, and the surroundings are garish.

Veteran Marker

This headstone, on the Original site, erected long after the person buried here had died, commemorates the life of a veteran of the war of 1812.

Behind the old Hospital

Here you can see the hillslope at the second site behind the old Western State Hospital covered with mostly nameless dateless markers.

Side View From Hilltop

Here you can see two different types of unnamed markers found at the cemetery site behind the old Western State Hospital building, rectangular markers, and markers with rounded tops.
 

Broken Headstone

One of the rarer markers with a name and date engraved on it, put up by the family of a deceased patient. This one broken and laying on the ground.

Another View

Behind the old hospital building, this view of the hillslope showing square markers among tree stumps.

A Leaning Marker

Wouldn't it be great if we could repair some of these broken and leaning markers!?

Signs of Affection

Someone cared for Mary L. Craig.

Numbered Marker

Did nobody care for patient # 2163? This is one of the few markers showing a still legible number on its face.
 

Tree Sections

Sections of a tree, downed, among markers, in various states, straight and leaning.

Down Slope

Another look at the downed tree, towards the road, behind the old Western State Hospital building.

A Far View

A view of the hillslope behind the old Western State Hospital building covered with mostly nameless dateless once numbered markers.

The Second Site

The cemetery behind the old Western State Hospital building seen from the parking lot.

Near the top of the hill

Here we can see some of the markers with rounded tops above the square or rectangular markers.
 

 

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