The Cumberland Public Library in Cumberland, RI, sits on the site of a Trappist monastery that was built beginning in 1902. The monks at the monastery were part of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, and came to Rhode Island from Nova Scotia around 1892. At the monastery the monks followed a strict monastic lifestyle, including a vow of silence, and daily prayer and labor. Additional buildings were added to the monastery as time went on, including a church and cloister, which now makes up the second floor of the Cumberland Public Library. On March 21, 1950, a devastating fire broke out under the stairs of the Guest House–the original part of the monastery built of wood. The fire spread quickly to the roof and the dormitories, though all 140 monks were able to escape the fire–some by jumping out of second story windows. After the fire, the monks relocated to Spencer, Massachusetts.
Reports of haunting at the Cumberland Public Library include a monk who takes care of the library. There have been reports of books being moved and reshelved without anyone being seen. Books may also turn pages or open on their own. Some visitors report hearing doors slam and hearing voices. That being said, librarians seem mum about the ghost. At times reports of supernatural events have occurred outside the library as well. In the woods not far from the library lies Nine Men’s Misery–the supposedly haunted site where nine colonists were killed in 1676. Is it possible the two are linked? Librarians will point you in the right direction toward Nine Men’s Misery, where a stone memorial (one of the oldest in the U.S.) marks the site of the graves. To have ghosts from two different times in history is unusual–and makes Cumberland a fascinating place for the supernatural.
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