Editing Embreeville State Hospital

This facility started out as the Chester County Almshouse in 1798, and was intended to care for the insane poor and neglected of the county. The commonwealth would later want counties to construct independent facilities that could provide care for the indigent insane and, beginning in 1898, work began on land where the "new" poorhouse would be located. The facility developed into a working community where able-bodied people earned their keep by performing a variety of tasks from farming to sewing, laundry and related chores. This new site would accommodate the growing need of the destitute in the region. Not far from the original poorhouse was a Potter’s Field, where less fortunate people without a family or means of support were buried. By 1900, patients from [[Norristown State Hospital]] were relocated to the new Embreeville asylum, which was functioning as a semi-autonmous hospital. Over time, additional modern buildings were constructed to house a growing mentally ill population. It was officially acquired by the state from Chester County in 1914.