Located at the junction of Broad Street and Elmwood Avenue, Grace Church Cemetery has served as a gateway to South Providence for over 150 years. Grace Episcopal Church originally purchased 4 acres for use as a burial ground at the intersection in 1834, which eventually expanded to a 9-acre triangular parcel by 1843. Among the 8,500 burials are Nehemiah R. Knight (1780 – 1854), Rhode Island Governor and, later, Senator, Senator Albert Collins Greene (1791 – 1863), and Episcopal Bishop John P. ... view more »
Located at the junction of Broad Street and Elmwood Avenue, Grace Church Cemetery has served as a gateway to South Providence for over 150 years. Grace Episcopal Church originally purchased 4 acres for use as a burial ground at the intersection in 1834, which eventually expanded to a 9-acre triangular parcel by 1843. Among the 8,500 burials are Nehemiah R. Knight (1780 – 1854), Rhode Island Governor and, later, Senator, Senator Albert Collins Greene (1791 – 1863), and Episcopal Bishop John P. K. Henshaw (1792 – 1852). Around 1860, the Cemetery caretaker’s cottage was constructed in the Gothic Revival style promoted by A.J. Downing in The Architecture of Country Houses.
Today, the Cemetery is part of the Trinity Square Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Long a focus of community activity, the caretaker’s cottage was meticulously restored by the Elmwood Foundation (now Community Works RI) in 1982. The cottage was restored again in 2008 in collaboration with the Providence Revolving Fund, and underwent extensive structural repairs after a car collided with the building’s foundation in 2010.
Although Grace Church Cemetery is an active burial ground, the number of interments has fallen in recent decades, greatly reducing funds available to maintain the property. Seasonal clean ups have been organized by Grace Church and the community, and, over the past year, Grace Church, Stop Wasting Abandoned Property (SWAP), and local stakeholders have met regularly to address security concerns and re-activate the Cemetery grounds. Spearheaded by SWAP, initiatives to repair fencing and explore lighting options are underway. Grace Church and SWAP are also working together to bring to fruition a long-standing plan to transfer ownership of the Cemetery to a separate non-profit called the Gateway Cemetery Company that was created for that purpose in 2001, in the hopes of improving fundraising opportunities and deepening community involvement.
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