Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them!
Formerly called the Asylum for the Inebriates, the Second State Hospital for the insane was opened in 1879, and in that same year, 68 mentally ill patients were transferred from the Saint Peter Minnesota Hospital. Currently the only portion of the state hospital left is the Second State Hospital cemetery where 2,019 patients had been buried in unmarked graves from 1886 - 1995. The hospital was officially closed in 1982 to make room for a Rochester prison.
In 2007 a project was started to research all old hospital records to identify the remains in the cemetery and place headstones for those found. As of today only 530 graves have been marked.
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