Florida State Hospital

Florida State Hospital
Construction Began	1876
Current Status	Active
Building Style	Cottage Plan
Alternate Names	Florida Asylum for the Insane Florida Asylum for the Indigent Insane Asylum for Indigent Lunatics North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center

History

From the Hospital's Official web page:

The Florida State Hospital, established in 1876, is located at Chattahoochee in the panhandle of Northwest Florida. It is on the site of an old United States Arsenal, which was built in 1834, just below the junction of the Flint and the Chattahoochee River, to command the ships on the Apalachicola River.

Florida State Hospital was originally a Federal Arsenal, built by the U.S. Army to be used as an arms depot during the second Seminole Indian War. It was used by the Freedman's Bureau from 1865 to 1868, and then served as the state's first penitentiary. Two of the original buildings still remain; the Officer's Quarters, which now serves as the Florida State Hospital Administration Building, and a Powder Magazine, which is currently being restored for eventual use as a museum and conference center.

The facility remained Florida's only state mental institution until 1947 and continues today to be the largest of a statewide system of treatment centers for individuals with mental and physical disabilities. It is listed on the National Historic Registry.

Images of Florida State Hospital

Main Image Gallery: Florida State Hospital

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Links

• More Historical Photos

Books

• Out of Mind, Out of Sight: A Revealing History of the Florida State Hospital at Chattahoochee and Mental Health Care in Florida by Sally J. Ling