JT Berry State School
| JT Berry State School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Construction Began | 1908 |
| Opened | 1909 |
| Closed | 1995 |
| Demolished | 2010 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | North Reading, MA |
| Alternate Names |
|
History
The North Reading State Sanatorium was authorized in 1907 by an act of the state legislature (St 1907 c 474). The same act also authorized the establishment of other state sanatoria at Lakeville and Westfield. The sanatorium at North Reading opened in September of 1909. The following year it was formally named and placed under the authority of the Trustees of Hospitals for Consumptives (St 1910, c 198 and c 491), which was superseded in 1919 by the Division of Sanatoria, a division of the Department of Public Health (St 1919, c 350, s 98). The original bed capacity was 150 patients increasing to 298 spread out over 23 buildings. Adult patients were moved from North Reading in 1926 to the other facilities at Lakeville, Rutland and Westfield. In response to an epidemic of rheumatic fever, North Reading began receiving children suffering for the disease (St 1945, c 453)and in 1958 it began receiving children suffering from any chronic disease (St 1958, c 258). North Reading was closed in 1962 and its physical plant was handed over to the Departement of Mental Health (St 1962, c 598). It was then operated as Martin’s Brook Sanatorium and later as J.T. Berry Rehabilitation Center caring for the developmentally disabled. This facility was closed in 1995 and the property remained vacant. The more than 80 acre site was sold in ~2006 and has been developed into a 406 apartment complex called The Residences at Martin’s Brook.
