State Home and School for Dependent and Neglected Children

The Yellow Cottage

The early dormitories were wood frame structures, of which only the "Yellow Cottage" (originally known as Cottage C) survives today. The school experienced significant growth in its first several decades, necessitating the construction of additional cottages and a schoolhouse. None of these have survived, the casualties of replacement done when the facility was modernized in the 1950s. The school's principal function came under criticism for extreme overcrowding, and the state began emphasizing placement of needy children in foster homes instead. Updated views of the treatment of children in the institution also prompted the demolition of most of the older cottages in favor of more modern residential facilities in the 1950s, with an emphasis on short-term stays.[2]

The facility continued to suffer from management and treatment issues, and was finally closed in 1979, its functions taken over by the state Department of Children, Youth , and Families. Rhode Island College had established its current campus adjacent to the facility in 1958, and began to take over the former school buildings and grounds in the 1990s.[2]