Westborough State Hospital, originally "Westborough Insane Hospital", was a historic hospital in Westborough, Massachusetts, which sat on more than 600 acres (240 ha). The core campus area was located between Lyman Street and Chauncy Lake,[2] north of Massachusetts Route 9. The hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
| Westborough State Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth of Massachusetts | |
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Westborough, Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°18′4″N 71°36′37″W / 42.30111°N 71.61028°W |
| Organization | |
| Funding | Government hospital |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | No |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Westborough Insane Hospital |
| Opened | 1884 |
| Closed | 2010 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Massachusetts |
Westborough State Hospital | |
 A shuttered building at Westborough State Hospital | |
   | |
| Location | Westborough, Massachusetts |
| Built | 1848 |
| Architect | Elias Carter; Kendall, Taylor & Stevens |
| Architectural style | Mid 19th Century Revival, Colonial Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman |
| MPS | Massachusetts State Hospitals And State Schools MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 93001488 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 21, 1994 |
The hospital was established in 1884 on the grounds of the State Reform School for Boys. The existing buildings were renovated to accommodate the needs of a mental hospital and was opened on December 1, 1886. This was the first homeopathic hospital for the insane established in New England; but such hospitals existed in New York, Michigan, and perhaps other states.[3]
The pioneering African-American psychiatrist Solomon Carter Fuller spent the majority of his career practicing at the hospital in the early 1900s. While there, he performed his ground-breaking research on the physical changes to the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.
The hospital was closed in 2010, in anticipation of a new Worcester State Hospital opening in 2012.[4] The ten-bed Deaf Unit, the two Adolescent Units, and the Intensive Residential Treatment Program (one step below State Hospital Level) programs were closed by June 2010.[5]
On May 9, 2015, a memorial service was held in nearby Pine Grove Cemetery for the more than 500 patients who died at Westborough State Hospital and whose remains were unclaimed and subsequently buried in a potter's field. The service was part of a larger effort to put names to the graves of the deceased. Despite being on the historic register, the entire hospital complex was demolished during the summer of 2019.[6] A senior living complex is currently being built at the same location as the state hospital was.
See also
editReferences
edit
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Westborough State Hospital". mass.gov. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ Sixth Annual Report of the State Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity of Massachusetts. 1884. State of Massachusetts. 1885. p. 99.
- ^ O'Connell, Scott (July 31, 2009). "Westborough State Hospital to close by next summer". wickedlocal.com.
- ^ Hammel, Lee (April 11, 2010). "Westboro State Hospital set to close". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ Makeenko, Viktoriia (September 11, 2020). "Westboro State Hospital". Abandoned Spaces. Timera Inc. - Timera Media. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
General References
edit- Westborough State Hospital (website dedicated to the facility)
- Annual Reports of the Westborough Insane Hospital (1885-1911, 1926-1936)
- Annual Reports of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts (1875-1914)
- Annual Reports of the State Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity (1879-1896)
External links
edit- Unofficial memorial site
- Massachusetts State Hospitals, hdl:2452/625416. (Various documents).