Milwaukee County Asylum
| Milwaukee County Asylum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Construction Began | 1878 |
| Opened | 1880 |
| Demolished | 1976 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Kirkbride Plan? Single Building |
| Location | Milwaukee, WI |
| Alternate Names | County Farm for Inebriates and Idiots
Milwaukee County Retreat for Weak and Feeble Minded Persons Milwaukee County Asylum for the Chronic Insane |
History
Milwaukee's first mental hospital, known as the Milwaukee County Asylum for the Chronic Insane, opened in 1880 on the County Grounds in Wauwatosa. The state reimbursed the county $1.50 a week for every patient in its care. At the peak of institutionalization in the 1940s and '50s, Milwaukee County housed some 6,000 people with mental illness in several locations. Accommodations were anything but lavish, usually two to a room, sleeping on cots and sharing a sink. There was no psychiatry or meaningful therapy, said Bill Baker, who worked there as an internist. People were basically drugged and warehoused.
The infirmary was torn down in the mid 1970s and replaced with a parking lot. The Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex was built to replace it.
