PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE: Cemetery Memorial Garden

Woodlands Memorial Garden is the resting place of 3,300 former residents of Woodlands Institution (Formerly Provincial Lunatic Asylum / Provincial Hospital for the Insane) and Essondale (a psychiatric hospital in Coquitlam).
When the cemetery was closed in 1977, the grave stones were ordered to be removed and reused as construction materials. Eventually, 620 headstones were recovered and incorporated into a series walls in the Garden. As the majority of headstones were never found, 34 black granite panels show the names of individuals noted in cemetery records.
#cemeteries #cemetery #memorial #burnaby #thruthegiftshop
⏰ TIMESTAMPS ⏰
0:00 Woodlands Memorial Garden Introduction
0:11 History of Woodlands Institution
1:45 Woodlands Memorial Garden
3:48 A Window too High
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PHOTO CREDITS
Hospital for the Insane and B.C. Penitentiary, New Westminster, B.C., ca. 1907,IHP1258, courtesy of the New Westminster Museum & Archives
URL: archives.newwestcity.ca/Photos...
Essondale interior dormitory, CA CCOQ C5-S01-SS02-EH.010, courtesy of City of Coquitlam Archives
URL: searcharchives.coquitlam.ca/up...
Essondale's West Lawn - straight-on view, ca. 1914, CA CCOQ C5-S01-SS02-EH.003, courtesy of City of Coquitlam Archives
URL:
searcharchives.coquitlam.ca/up...
ABOUT EXIT THRU THE GIFT SHOP
Join me in exploring roadside attractions, museums, oddities, points of interest and other diversions before finally...exiting thru the gift shop.

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

🔴 SUBSCRIBE: link.thruthegiftshop.com/subscribe 🔴 ⏰ TIMESTAMPS ⏰ 0:00 Woodlands Memorial Garden Introduction 0:17 History of Woodlands Institution 1:52 Woodlands Memorial Garden 3:54 A Window too High

[@ontheroadwithcraigandlinda9554]

Looks like a beautiful peaceful area. Glad all this headstones were saved and put in the memorial wall and bbq patio.Enjoyed the video .Thx for sharing.

[@gragor11]

Thanks for making this video highlighting this bit of history. In the day, when they closed Riverview 'for the good of the patients' it was said that there would be care for those released into the community. Now we have towns and cities with homeless people, many with what are known as 'mental issues'. Care for these people was never instituted by the provincial government to a level that was going to be adequate. Although segregating 'these people' was inhumane, abandoning them after releasing most certainly was also inhumane. Social Engineering at it's worst.

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

It's a difficult problem to be sure. There were some very inhumane living conditions at some of these facilities, but turning people out on the street isn't the answer either. I think there needs to be a combination of support for folks who can take care of themselves to some degree, but housing and care for those that can't. Whatever the solution it needs to be done with respect.

[@gragor11]

@@ExitThrutheGiftShop Yes, respect and quickly. More and more people are desperate for a place to call home and/or a place to detox and a place to have security.

[@JenniferandMark2014]

History can be so sad. Thank you for sharing. 🧡Jenn

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

It surprises me what was considered appropriate at that time, but it's important to tell these stories so that we remember the lives affected.

[@donnabooth6203]

I was doing some family history and found my great Uncle died at Riverview in 1944, his grave marker was damaged but is one of the many on the wall

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

That's fascinating! I'm glad you were able to trace back your family history.

[@zeeshanahmad448]

>>>>>>>>superlative...........very azming Great memory .... superb vlog... informative.... for us...

[@bullnterrier4829]

My relative, John KING was buried there. Oddly enough, years ago, a friend of mine brought me two tombstones that he dug up working for a landscaping company that were some of the missing tombstones. I had no idea I had a family connection at the time he gave them to me. His grave stone could have been among the many my friend dug up at work! How's that for a coincidence?!

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

Wow - That's quite a coincidence! It's unfortunate that a lot of these old cemeteries weren't maintained or records were lost. It makes it difficult for people to find out about important connections to their past.

[@bullnterrier4829]

@@ExitThrutheGiftShop I'm in the process of getting the stones I have to the people who built the memorial. I don't believe my relative's stone has been recovered unfortunately. We will definitely visit his grave site though as they have all the plots mapped out. He has a brother buried in Burnaby as well. What a long way they travelled from Jacquet River, New Brunswick all the way to BC way back then!

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

Glad to hear that the stones week be returned, but it's unfortunate that so many were lost. The memorial has spots reserved in case other stones turn up so it will be nice to see these added. Appreciate your efforts to return them :)

[@TuiSnider]

Love that gorgeous cedar tree! Interesting history - even the way the names changed is intriguing. Sad that the headstones were pillaged like that! :( But I’m glad that volunteers created that memorial garden. Hope they can recover more stones. And how awful to not be able to see out the windows. Thanks for sharing this. I’d never heard of it!

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

There are so many interesting stories all around us! As much as I'm looking forward to going back to see museums and other attractions, I'm also really enjoying learning the history of these forgotten places!

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

Thanks for exploring with us!

[@helo604]

@@ExitThrutheGiftShop please do more videos of those forgotten places! My husband and I enjoy watching your videos and discovering unknown parts of our own backyard.

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

Glad you enjoy the videos - The recent situation has caused us to look for interesting locations close to home, but I'm finding there are lots of interesting stories right under our noses.

[@PortlyTravellers]

That was a huge tree at the beginning. Interesting video; also sad. I'm sure most of those people didn't even need to be institutionalized.-Shawna🍁

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

It's really too bad, but we've come a long way in understanding mental ones in the past hundred years. At least there are people that wanted to restore the memorial out of respect.

[@TuiSnider]

That huge tree was a cedar. I know they're common up in the Pacific Northwest, but they are sometimes called "the cemetery tree," especially down here in the South, where I currently live, so I wondered when I saw that beautiful cedar.

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

@@TuiSnider Interesting! I never knew the symbolism, history and follow around cedar tree in cemeteries. This tree was beautiful - at the base it was probably a good ten or twelve feet across.

[@kathygilbraith2280]

Sooo they left the bodies in the ground and people are wandering about on top of them???

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

As far as I know...yes!

[@Van23channel]

So the 3000+ dead bodies are still buried there? Or have they been removed?

[@ExitThrutheGiftShop]

As far as I know, the graves are still there but the markers removed and relocated to the memorial garden.

[@gingercrosby8609]

Two old ladies got raoed and murdered There. Their death lied about.