Cumberland, Rhode Island, USA (Valley Falls) (Ashton) (Cumberland Hill)
1950 - Monastery in Rhode Island Is Destroyed

Cumberland Hill, R. I. (UP) - Fire early today destroyed the hilltop Cistercian monastery of Our Lady of the Valley, built by the patient hands of Trappist monks.

The blaze apparently broke out in the infirmary of the massive granite structure, driving 110 monks and 20 guests from the four buildings which will cost $250,000 to replace.

Monks Turn Firemen
Firemen from eight surrounding communities and the bearded and brown-robed monks themselves fought the fire that raged out of control for nearly two hours late last night before it was extinguished.

Four Trappists who were in the infirmary were evacuated before the flames roared through all but the most recently constructed buildings of the 50-year-old cloistered colony.

Only buildings saved were the notiviate and the farm houses which contained the basis for the monks' livelihood. Firefighters were hampered by lack of water pressure and traffic jams that resulted when curious townsfolk drove to the scene.

The monks, who are dedicated to perpetual silence and live solely on vegetables, climbed ladders to help their fellow friars and to train hoses on the fire in attempts to save their monastery.

Several monks and firemen suffered minor smoke inhalation and small cuts, but no one was injured seriously.

Showered With Debris
Some 30 firemen and monks escaped possible injury when the rear wall of the main building collapsed at the height of the fire, showering them with debris and burning embers.

The monastery, the third of four in the United States, was built mostly by the hand labor of a group of 25 Cistercian monks who left their monastery in 1901 to take over the Diamond Hill plot.

Dunkirk Evening Observer
Dunkirk, New York
March 22, 1950

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