Jacksonville State Hospital
| Construction Ended | 1847 |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1848 |
| Current Status | Active |
| Building Style | Kirkbride Plan |
| Location | Jacksonville, IL |
| Peak Patient Population | 3,000 in 1950s |
| Alternate Names | Illinois State Hospital for the Insane,
Jacksonville Developmental Center, Jacksonville Mental Health and Developmental Center, Central Hospital For The Insane |
History
Built on the plans of the Central State Hospital for the Insane in Indianapolis Indiana, as suggested by Dorthea Dix in 1847. The board of trustees sent M.C. Goltra to Indianapolis to obtain copies of the plans for the hospital that had just started construction there. Thus the architectural plans for the Kirkbride plan building were a copy of an asylum just begun there. The Central Indiana State Hospital for the Insane would open and accept it's patients first on November 21st 1848. The hospital and Jacksonville added several wings between 1848 and 1875.
In 1860 the hospital had 30 cases of typhoid fever with 3 deaths. This was due to a lack of a clean water supply. Dorthea Dix lobbied for funds to fix the problem and in 1862 the hospital received a 2,500,000 water reservoir and a new pumping station.
Today the facility houses developmentally ill patients. Most of the original buildings, including the Kirkbride, have been demolished.
