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Featured Article Of The Week
Norristown State Hospital
In 1876 Governor John Hartranft formed a commission to study the need for a state-owned hospital in southeastern Pennsylvania. A 200-acre tract in the northern part of Norristown borough was chosen for the hospital and work began on March, 21, 1878. Upon completion on February 17, 1880 there were only two other state-owned hospitals, one in Danville that opened in 1872 and one in Harrisburg that opened in 1851. Plans were underway to construct another at Warren. Norristown was built to alleviate the overcrowding in the psychiatric wards of the Philadelphia Almshouse and other hospitals in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 1880, the hospital was turned over to the Board of Trustees for operation. It operated under the "cottage plan," using small cottage structures to house patients instead of one large facility. During this perriod, the hospital was opened to both sexes and continued to be divided into men's and women's departments until 1923. Serving nearly 3,000 patients, in 1924 the hospital was reorganized under one superintendent. As with most hospitals at the time, there was a farm with animals on the grounds and the patients helped to operate the facility until the 1950s. As of 1998, the hospital still functions as a mental hospital.
From the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare web page: The second half of the nineteenth century was witnessing the opening of state hospitals for the care and treatment of persons who had mental illnesses. Prior to this care and treatment had been provided in County Almshouses, which were very, very overcrowded. In May 1876, under Public Law 121, the Pennsylvania Legislature called for the establishment of a state mental hospital to serve the Southeastern District of Pennsylvania.
Norristown State Hospital received its first patient, a woman, on July 12, 1880. Two more women arrived on July 13th followed by the first two men on July 17th. Very soon thereafter groups of individuals were admitted from other state hospitals and county almshouses. By September 30, 1880, there were 295 men and 251 women receiving in-patient care and treatment. Click here for more...
