Burlington County Insane Asylum
| Burlington County Insane Asylum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1799 |
| Opened | 1801 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | New Lisbon |
| Alternate Names |
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History[edit]
The Burlington County Insane Asylum is located on Pemberton-Browns Mills Road just east of Burlington County College on the north side of the road. The county established its first institution here in 1799 when it purchased the Josiah Gaskill estate, a farm comprising 472 acres. Here the county set up its poor farm and almshouse. The county built the first building there in 1801, a structure to house the poor and indigent measuring 40' x 80'. Workers added a new wing to the building during the mid-nineteenth century.
In 1900, Burlington County constructed an insane asylum at the growing complex. A fire occurred in 1920 which destroyed the hospital associated with the almshouse. During the second decade of the twentieth century, the county added a tuberculosis hospital called Fairview Sanatorium. A fire destroyed the old almshouse and the county made plans to construct a new one based on plans drawn by architect Hugh A. Kelly of Trenton. He designed the new two-story almshouse/nursing home to conform with the colonial revival styling of the insane asylum. With the completion of the new building, the county named it Buttonwood Hall and named its older insane asylum Evergreen Park. Subsequently, the county razed the old tuberculosis hospital and in more recent years added the Post House and the juvenile detention center to the complex.
A large portion of the main building came under new private ownership in 2012 and was renamed Aspen Hills Healthcare Center. Buttonwood Behavioral Health Hospital remains connected to it as a separate entity in place of what was known as Evergreen Park.
