Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

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|Title= Farview State Hospital
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|Title= San Antonio State Hospital
|Image= Farview_Vint_01.jpg
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|Image= SanAntonioTX_SH_PC_01_WEBEDIT.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
|Width= 150px
|Body= Farview was founded by an act of the state legislature on May 11, 1905 as the first and only institution in the state devoted exclusively to the care and treatment of the criminally insane. It was located on a 950 acre tract of land just west of Waymart on land donated to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. Over the years additional land was purchased adding another 450 acres to the property. The site had been the Farview Picnic Ground used by the D&H Gravity Railroad excursion rides. The location is one of the highest elevations in the state and the name is derived from the spectacular view from that spot. Dr. Thomas C. Fitzsimmons was appointed the first superintendent of the hospital and construction continued between 1908 and 1913 with the first patients arriving in December 1912.
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|Body= In 1889 the Texas legislature passed a bill establishing a state mental institution to serve Southwest Texas. The new facility was to occupy at least 640 acres and be capable of housing 500 patients. It was to be known as the Southwestern Insane Asylum (not the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, as it has sometimes been called). A site was selected five miles south of San Antonio and $200,000 was appropriated for the new hospital. The facility began operation on April 6, 1892 with a capacity of 200 patients.
  
In 1913 the number of patients was 171 and by 1960 it had risen to 1,401. Farview was intended to function as a prison without walls. The design grouped the large brick buildings together with connecting passageways that enclosed a courtyard. This restricted the patients' access only to the courtyards and the interior of the buildings. J.C. M. Shirk of Philadelphia designed and constructed the original buildings and his partner, Charles L. Hillman, designed and built the later buildings after Shirk's death in 1918. The complex included the main hospital, dormitory, and a dining hall for the patients plus an industrial building where they manufactured various items. It also included the administrative building, superintendent's residence, a guard dormitory, staff cottages, kitchens, workshop, laundry and 43 acre farm.  [[Farview State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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In the first eight months of operation the patient population grew to 142. By August 23, 1894, there were 225 patients. Provisions for 300 more patients were authorized when $70,000 was appropriated in 1898, and in 1910, $100,000 was voted for expansion to accommodate an additional 300. This addition consisted of one wing each on the male and female departments and two buildings for tubercular. The improvements were completed in 1910 and the hospital could then accommodate 1,000 patients. In 1911 another appropriation of $45,000 was given to construct a building for 100 men, providing care to acute cases and all those who require extra attention. By 1912 the facilities could accommodate 1,140, and improvements were valued at $500,000. By 1915 the hospital's capacity was 1,800. In 1917 a training school for nurses in psychiatry was begun. This school, the only one of its kind in the state system, continued with a three-year course until 1942.  [[San Antonio State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 03:37, 7 March 2021

Featured Article Of The Week

San Antonio State Hospital


SanAntonioTX SH PC 01 WEBEDIT.jpg

In 1889 the Texas legislature passed a bill establishing a state mental institution to serve Southwest Texas. The new facility was to occupy at least 640 acres and be capable of housing 500 patients. It was to be known as the Southwestern Insane Asylum (not the Southwestern Lunatic Asylum, as it has sometimes been called). A site was selected five miles south of San Antonio and $200,000 was appropriated for the new hospital. The facility began operation on April 6, 1892 with a capacity of 200 patients.

In the first eight months of operation the patient population grew to 142. By August 23, 1894, there were 225 patients. Provisions for 300 more patients were authorized when $70,000 was appropriated in 1898, and in 1910, $100,000 was voted for expansion to accommodate an additional 300. This addition consisted of one wing each on the male and female departments and two buildings for tubercular. The improvements were completed in 1910 and the hospital could then accommodate 1,000 patients. In 1911 another appropriation of $45,000 was given to construct a building for 100 men, providing care to acute cases and all those who require extra attention. By 1912 the facilities could accommodate 1,140, and improvements were valued at $500,000. By 1915 the hospital's capacity was 1,800. In 1917 a training school for nurses in psychiatry was begun. This school, the only one of its kind in the state system, continued with a three-year course until 1942. Click here for more...