In the 1880s, the Mental Health hospital/center was established in Sparks, Nevada, a
community right next to Reno, Washoe, Nevada. The institute had its own cemetery and
thanks to Bob Berrington, who did a lot of ground work and investigating and making
contacts, we are now able to post the new cemetery page. As you can see by the pictures,
the cemetery has long been ignored and only a few graves are identified today. Hopefully,
through more work and cooperation from the officials at the Mental Health Institute, plus
state burial records, we will be able to increase the records for the deceased who were
buried here. An article this year in a local newspaper indicated the officials are
looking to expand the facilities, and use some or all of the cemetery. The question that
remains is what to do with the deceased. This is not a unique problem with old
cemeteries. But progress takes a toll on our history, and hopefully, this old cemetery
will not be a victim of that pro!
gress.
You can see the new cemetery page at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/Nevada/county_pages/washoecem.html
just scroll down to Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services Cemetery and take a peek.
I wish to thank Bob once again for his tremendous efforts in providing us one more avenue
of research.
Cemeteries from the entire state can be viewed at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/Nevada/nevada.html
Gerry Perry
Nevada Tombstone Project Manager