Norwalk State Hospital

Norwalk State Hospital
Main Building
Established	1915
Opened	1916
Current Status	Active
Building Style	Cottage Plan
Location	Norwalk, Los Angeles County, CA
Alternate Names	Norwalk State Hospital for the Insane Metropolitan State Hospital

History

In 1915 California Governor H. W. Johnson (1866-1945) signed legislation opening Norwalk State Hospital. About $400,000.00 was allocated for the purchase of the land on which to build a state hospital designed to provide care and treatment to California's increasing population of persons with mental health challenges. The city of Norwalk was the eventual location chosen for the hospital over Beverly Hills and Signal Hill due to convenient road and railroad access. In those days, the hospital was self sufficient with its own farm, dairy and farm animals. The facility is known today as Metropolitan State Hospital (MSH). The current size of the facility, 162 acres, has numerous buildings which continue to display the rich heritage of days gone by.

Marilyn Monroe's mother Gladys was sent to this hospital after she had suffered a mental break down. Gladys later died there.

• "The Final Analysis" by Pegi Handley

Images

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Video

This is a video of a walk through parts of the hospital. <videoflash>N_2cdaEkLJc</videoflash>