Edgemoor Farm
| Edgemoor Farm | |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1923 |
| Closed | 2006 |
| Current Status | Preserved |
| Building Style | Cottage Plan |
| Location | Santee, CA |
| Alternate Names |
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History
Edgemoor was originally a "poor farm" – a meat and dairy farm where the indigent lived in exchange for their labor. The county purchased the property in 1923, and farm buildings were used to care for poor, elderly people & mentally ill. By the mid-1920s the Edgemoor cared for 520 people. Throughout the years the County added new buildings; in 1950 apartments and wards were added. In 1945, Edgemoor Farm became the Home of the Aged and Indigent of San Diego County and in 1947, two dairy barns were converted to house partially or completely bedridden patients.
By 1955, farming activities were phased out, a patient care building was constructed and the Edgemoor Farm facility was a licensed Public Medical Institution and the name was changed to Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital. Trying to escape the stigma of "poor farm," buildings were given Spanish names: Santa Maria, Barona, Carillo, Pico, Ortega, Yarba, Serra and Couts after the original old San Diego families and Spanish Land Grants. During 1951, Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital began providing skilled nursing and rehabilitative care, primarily to elderly indigent persons. Also in 1951, Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital received 169 patients from Camp Elliot.
Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital housed the first fire engine in Santee, which was manned by volunteers of Edgemoor employees. Since all water was obtained from wells, one of the first things built was a water tank that was used weekly and refilled with fresh water. The water district later piped water into Edgemoor Farm to be used only for fire fighting. In 1960 that Edgemoor became the first facility in California to be licensed as a "Specialty Geriatric Hospital." In 1962 a new rehabilitation center was built and the facility name changed to Edgemoor Hospital. In 2007 a new hospital opened on a new site as part of the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital.
