Over a hundred years ago, the Ladd School was a feeble-minded school.
On the grounds of two adjoining 19th century farms, the Ladd School once spanned more than 500 acres, having grown from a small enclave of simple cottages to a sprawling campus of more than 40 buildings fulfilling all the needs of a self-contained community. From offices to dormitories, schools and hospitals, a power plant, and even a fire station, the institution was a village unto itself thriving on the soil upon which it was built as much as it did on the sweat and tears of nearly 5,000 Rhode Islanders who, for over a span of 86 years, lived, worked and died there in virtual exile.
:JRC
