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|Title= Terrell State Hospital
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|Title= Yankton State Hospital
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|Image= Yankton SD PC 1.jpg
 
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|Body= In 1883, when word was circulated that the State of Texas was seeking a location for a second major mental facility and that it would be located in Northeast Texas, the competition among cities must have been quite similar to the quest for industry and other major developments that exist today.
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|Body= The completion of the railway into Yankton in 1873 gave added impetus to immigration and by 1878 the effect of the gold rush was reflected in the number of Dakota patients at St. Peter Hospital, totaling 22. Governor William A. Howard was advised in June by Minnesota that no more patients could be accepted after July 1 because of crowded conditions at that hospital and all Dakota patients would have to be removed by October 1, 1878.
  
Terrell was fortunate at that time to include among the citizens of a still young town a large group of people with the foresight to understand what such a facility could mean to a growing city. But even the farsightedness of legendary rancher and banker Col. Jim Harris, who gave the necessary acreage to the state for a meager return, could not have visualized the proportions to which Terrell State Hospital has grown today nor the immense impact it has had on the local economy for over 100 years.
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The Governor contacted Iowa hospitals without success, then traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, and found that institution overcrowded but by completing some unfinished rooms, accommodations were arranged for five patients until the following February. Another contract with Minnesota resulted in an extension until February 1, 1879, for removal of the patients from St. Peter.
  
A total of $200,000 was appropriated for the purchase of the property and construction of the original facilities. It all began, officially, on February 16, 1883, when the 18th Texas Legislature enacted a statute introduced by Judge John Austin. The word "asylum"--by the original definition--was a place of refuge and safety and that, at best, was the primary service offered by mental facilities in the United States at that time.
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Governor Howard searched for a building to be used for a hospital in nearby towns of Vermillion, Elk Point and Canton with no success. In Yankton, he found two large wooden buildings--one belonging to the city and one to the Territory that were built to house German-Russian? immigrants. The Governor secured the buildings and arranged to have them rebuilt on school lands north of Yankton at personal expense, a total of $2,286.85. The thirteenth session of the Dakota Territory Legislature met on January 14, 1879, and in the Governor’s message he advised the lawmakers of his action and the necessary laws were passed.
  
Governor John Ireland commissioned the purchase of 672.65 acres of land located east of Terrell and offered by Jim Harris. This would be site for the branch asylum and the new institution was to be known as North Texas Lunatic Asylum. Its stated purpose was to provide treatment and care for the "chronic incurable insane" of the state's northern counties. [[Terrell State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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During the first six months there were five employees; and, 31 patients were cared for, five being discharged, fully recovered. The appropriation for the first two years was inadequate and citizens generally did not realize that patients needed much more than food and clothing so future legislatures were inclined to reduce recommended allowances for their care, treatment and support. [[Yankton State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
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