Central State cemetery in poor condition

Mary Milz/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - There's concern the city isn't doing enough to maintain a small cemetery it owns on the west side. The cemetery, which doesn't have a name, is the final resting place for
roughly 500 people, former patients of Central State Hospital, an insane
asylum that opened in 1848 and closed in 1994.

The three-acre parcel is overgrown with grass and weeds and has several downed trees, a broken fence and trash lining the border along Tibbs.

Melissa Romer is a caretaker for Mount Jackson, the adjacent cemetery, which is mowed, trimmed and maintained.

Romer said of the city cemetery, "It's a sad state of affairs but a forgotten thing. If you don't see it, it's swept under the carpet."

The city became responsible for the cemetery when it took control of the Central State site from the state in 2003.

A registry lists the last names and first initials of those buried, along with a number identifying their grave site. But the vast majority of markers - a simple concrete slab with a
red number attached - are hidden beneath grass and dirt.

Romer said the former patients "were mistreated over there [at Central State Hospital]. People didn't know that at the time and a lot has changed, but it's a matter of
preservation if not self-preservation. You shouldn't desecrate the
dead."

Dr. Robert McDougal, a genealogist, has compiled a list of those buried at the cemetery. He said the first burial took place around 1900 and the last around 1945. The cemetery
includes a handful of soldiers who served in the Union Army.

McDougal also notes that there's a second cemetery in the northwest corner of the former hospital site. It has no names or identifiers.

He said he still gets at least a call or two every year from people "trying to find their great grandfather's or mother's resting place."

John Bartholomew, a spokesperson for the city's Department of Metropolitan Development, saw the cemetery for the first time Thursday afternoon.

He said the grass is mowed every three weeks "and we do three weeks this time of year because normally we're in a dry cycle and we don't worry so much."

He said the trash and tree limbs should be removed and would. As for the overgrown markers and registry? Bartholomew said the city would do more if it could afford to.

"It's a rough balance because it's very emotional when you're talking about a cemetery," he said, "but there's a balance out there too with taxpayer dollars."

"Cemeteries are an important link to our past. It's part of who we are," said Mark Dollase with Indiana Landmarks.

Dollase said city could and should do a better job maintaining the property, especially given how the people buried there were ["the downtrodden of society"] were treated when they
were alive.

"For us to not maintain this final resting place and not respect the folks buried here is troubling," he said.

Dollase suggested the city get creative about sprucing up the cemetery.

"Perhaps partner with a not-for-profit, a veteran's group or other group interested in helping out," he said.

Bartholomew said the city would welcome any and all ideas, encouraging those wanting to help to contact Metropolitan Development.