Seven maps of the Ladd School and the surrounding town of Exeter might seem redundant, but each one is unique in its own way. Most of the maps of the institution in this collection date to about 1958, and include the two 'back wards' built in 1953 — the Evergreen and Riverfield dormitories — but omit the Fogarty and Rehabilitation Hospitals built in 1962. Two maps show the different names proposed for the various residential units and the streets that criss-crossed the campus.
Other highlights include a highly detailed map of the town of Exeter, hand-drawn by the locally-famed mapmaker George Matteson (1950); a hand-drawn map of the Ladd School grounds (c.a. 1958); an original 1870 map of the State Farm in Cranston, Rhode Island; and a modern map of Rhode Island's former State Hospital, including the names and locations of several abandoned builinds which have since been demolished.
But the centerpiece of this collection is a 33-inch original blueprint for the Ladd School's sewer line construction proposed in 1949, which depicts multiple buildings meant to expand the institution's grounds, but were never built.
:JRC
Seven reproductions and two original maps including those of the Exeter (Ladd) School and the town of Exeter, as well as the Rhode Island State Farm and the Pastore Center in Cranston, Rhode Island.
