Workers finished the job Wednesday of placing granite markers for those who were identified, the Providence Journal reported. A few sets of remains were not identifiable.
The State Farm in Cranston -- which combined a prison, insane asylum and poorhouse in one facility -- was open from 1873 to 1918. Officials did not realize until a bad storm washed out part of the embankment under State Highway 37 that the highway had been built on top of the State Farm graveyard.
About 3,000 people are believed to be buried there, the report said.
Michael Hebert, an archaeologist with the state Department of Transportation, tried to find out as much as he could about the people whose remains came to light. Many could be identified because brass plates on the coffins had survived, even though the wooden boxes had decayed.
"This has been the most thought-provoking and emotional project in my 30-year career," Hebert said.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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