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{{infobox institution
 
{{infobox institution
 
| name = Central State Hospital
 
| name = Central State Hospital
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| image = 22473397 10155229949893717 728682122 o.jpg
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| image = CSHlville.jpg
 
| image_size = 250px
 
| image_size = 250px
 
| alt =  
 
| alt =  
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| construction_began = 1868  
 
| construction_began = 1868  
 
| construction_ended = 1869
 
| construction_ended = 1869
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| opened = 1873
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| opened = 1869
 
| closed = 1986
 
| closed = 1986
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| demolished = 1996
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| demolished =
 
| current_status = [[Demolished Institution|Demolished]]
 
| current_status = [[Demolished Institution|Demolished]]
 
| building_style = [[Kirkbirde Planned Institutions|Kirkbride Plan]]
 
| building_style = [[Kirkbirde Planned Institutions|Kirkbride Plan]]
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*Fourth Kentucky Lunatic Asylum
 
*Fourth Kentucky Lunatic Asylum
 
*Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane
 
*Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane
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*Central State Hospital
 
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*River Region Hospital
 
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Hospital "Nicknames"
 
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*Lakeland State Hospital
 
*Lakeland State Hospital
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*Anchorage Asylum
 
 
*Central State Hospital  
 
*Central State Hospital  
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
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Land was bought by the commonwealth from the Hite family in 1869 to build a state house of reform for juvenile delinquents. In 1873 the Gerneral Assembly authorized it's conversion to the Fourth Lunatic Asylum due to severe overcrowding at Eastern & Western State Hospitals. By 1900 the hospital had been renamed 'Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane'. Typical of asylums built in the 19th century, the hospital was located in a secluded area beyond the city. The growing need for care and persistent lack of funds lend to serious overcrowding that it was built to ease at other hospitals. By the 1920s allegations of abuse and neglect became an issue and beginning in the '30s the hospital began to perform lobotomies electroshock therapy and other methods to treat patients. In 1941 A grand jury label Lakeland an overcrowded fire trap and describe the stench in the wards as "awful" and denounced the practice of committing those that were neither insane or psychotic. There were 2,400 patients in buildings designed to house only 1,600.
  
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Central State Hospital was a 192-bed adult psychiatric hospital located in eastern Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky. In 1869, 200 acres were purchased by the Kentucky State Legislature from the descendants of renown frontiersman Issac Hite to establish a "State House of Reform for Juvenile Delinquents." This was located on the outskirts of what would become Anchorage, Kentucky. In 1873, due to overcrowding at both of Kentucky's mental hospitals, the House of Reform was converted into the Fourth Kentucky Lunatic Asylum, with Dr. C.C. Forbes as its first Superintendent. The following year an act of the legislature renamed it the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum. In late 1887, it received its own post office, called simply "Asylum". The following year its name was changed to "Lakeland", and the institution was commonly referred to as "Lakeland Hospital" or "Lakeland Asylum". By 1900, its official name had been changed to the Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane. By 1912 it was known as Central State Hospital. Comparable institutions are Eastern State Hospital at Lexington in Fayette County and Western State Hospital at Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky. All three were administered by the Board of Charitable Organizations.
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[[image:Centralstate4a.jpg|thumb|200px|left]]
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The secluded, rural setting was typical of such facilities in the late 19th century, as such an environment was thought to be beneficial for recovery from mental illness. However, not all patients had mental disorders - some suffered from brain damage, mental retardation or were simply poor or elderly. The early years of the 1880s were marked by repeated allegations of patient abuse.
 
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[[image:22447632 10155229949858717 468205663 n.jpg|thumb|200px|left]]
 
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Throughout Central States history, the institution suffered from improper funding, understaffing, and overcrowding. Though built to accommodate 1,600 patients, by 1940 there were in excess of 2,400 patients and again various accusations of patient mistreatment began to arise. However, starting in the 1950s, changing community perception of the mentally disturbed, led to fewer patients staying permanently in mental hospitals. In 1962, $3,000,000 was allowed by the state to construct more modern facilities on LaGrange Road. Many of these are still standing.
 
  
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In 1986, a new modern administration facility was completed on property adjacent to the 1960s buildings, The original hospital and surviving structures on what was called "the North Campus" were subsequently abandoned and later demolished in the late 1990s.
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Director A. Lyon reported in 1950 that many people at the hospital shouldn't be there, among them a 103 year old black man that had been committed for spitting on the courthouse stove. In 1969 the state finally releases many patients considered not mentally ill. In 1974 the hospital now known as Central State was privatized under the River Regiori Mental Health Board as a part of a short term joint venture the merge in-patient and community based care, but 3 years later the state resumed control. In 1986 the old hospital closed and moved into new buildings, then in 1996 the state spent $2.8 million to demolish all of the old original buildings on the 900 acre site, turning it into a state park.
  
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==Cemeteries==
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==Cemetery==
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There are 2 cemeteries on the former hospital property that is now part of the E.P. Tom Sawyer State park. Strawberry Hill and Peace On Earth, with Strawberry Hill being the older of the two. All graves are marked and the number of patients buried there currently unknown. Ongoing research has brought the number to nearly 1,000 names.
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There are 2 cemeteries on the former hospital property that is now part of the E.P. Tom Sawyer State park. None of the graves are marked & the number of patients buried there is unknown, possibly 4-5,000.
  
 
== Images of Central State Hospital ==
 
== Images of Central State Hospital ==
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== Links & Additional Information ==  
 
== Links & Additional Information ==  
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*[https://kyhi.org/asylums/central-state-hospital/csh-death-index/ List of burials known to date]
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*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GSmcid=47281460&CRid=1963475&pt=Central%20Hospital%20for%20the%20Insane& Genealogy Site]
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*[https://kyhi.org/asylums/central-state-hospital/ Website with History & Photos]
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*[http://www.centralstatehospital.blogspot.com Historical Blog]
  
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[[Category:Kentucky]]
 
 
[[Category:Demolished Institution]]
 
[[Category:Demolished Institution]]
 
[[Category:Kirkbride Buildings]]
 
[[Category:Kirkbride Buildings]]
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[[Category:Kentucky]]
 
[[Category:Institution With A Cemetery]]
 
[[Category:Institution With A Cemetery]]
 
[[Category:Past Featured Article Of The Week]]
 
[[Category:Past Featured Article Of The Week]]

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