Norristown State Hospital

Norristown State Hospital
Norristown State Hospital
Established	May 5, 1876
Construction Began	March 21, 1878
Construction Ended	1966
Opened	1880
Current Status	Active
Building Style	Transitional
Location	Norristown, PA
Architecture Style	High Victorian Gothic Revival
Peak Patient Population	4,954 in 1947
Alternate Names	Norristown Asylum for the Insane, State Lunatic Hospital at Norristown

In May 1876 Governor John Hartranft formed a blue-ribbon commission to study the civic need for additional state asylums to tend to the overcrowded county almshouse. In that same year, under Public Law 121, the Pennsylvania Legislature called for the establishment of a state mental hospital to serve the Southeastern District of Pennsylvania. A two hundred and sixty five acre tract in the northern part of Norristown borough (which now split between the city of Norristown and East Norriton Township) was chosen for the hospital grounds, and work began on March, 21, 1878. $600,000 was secured by the state legislature for this project and the construction of its seven wards. This year can be found engraved at the top of the tower on the administration building at Norristown (Building #19), at the front of the hospital complex.

Upon completion on February 17, 1879 there were only two other state-owned hospitals operating, one in Danville, which opened in 1872, and one in Harrisburg, that opened in 1851. At the time, other plans were underway to construct another at Warren. Norristown was built to alleviate the overcrowding in the psychiatric wards of the Philadelphia County Almshouse, as well as private hospitals, such as Friends Hospital and the Institute at Pennsylvania Hospital. At its opening, the hospital was turned over to the Board of Trustees with its thirteen members for operation, which still controls and oversees the welfare of the physical hospital and its operation. From its opening, the hospital was opened to both sexes and continued to be divided into independent male and female departments until 1923. Serving nearly 3,000 patients, in 1924 the hospital was reorganized under a single superintendent.

As with most state hospitals at the time, there was a farm with livestock and crops on the grounds and the patients helped to operate the facility until the 1970's. Norristown State Hospital continues to operate a farmer's market on the grounds currently at its greenhouses, which are open to the public. However, nothing is grown on site, and most of the former farmland are currently under the jurisdiction of Norristown Farm Park. Roads and sewers were built on the property, most of which remain active, and a large portion of the grounds were enclosed by an cast-iron fence, eight feet high. This cast-iron fence is still operational and can be seen from Steriege and Stanbridge street. Barns and a root-house were also constructed at the hospitals opening, many of which also still surivive, and sewage was emptied into Stony Creek until it was found to be injurious to local wildlife.

The general dimensions of the separate ward buildings are 277 ft in length by 90 ft in depth. Each ward building consists of a basement, used for steam-heating ducts and workshops, and two main stories, each containing two wards and giving four wards to each building. Each ward is complete in itself, with separate rooms, dormitory, dining-room, bath-room, etc. The wards are ventilated by stacks with steam coiled at the base for creating the drought that draws the air from the wards.

Norristown State Hospital received its first patient, a woman, on July 12, 1880 under the supervision of Dr. Robert H. Chase and Dr. Alice Bennett. Two more women arrived on July 13th followed by the first two men on July 17th. Very soon thereafter groups of individuals were admitted from other state hospitals and county almshouses. By September 30, 1880, there were 295 men and 251 women receiving inpatient care and treatment.

Norristown State Hospital was the first of the Pennsylvania state hospitals to construct its buildings deviating slightly from the "Kirkbride Plan", best known as "Transitional Plan". Instead of constructing a single monolithic building, the individual patient wards were separated and free-standing. These building were connected with a series of underground tunnels, including a central tunnel which stretches across the property. Norristown still maintains the schematics of Kirkbride's original plan, with it seperation of male and female departments, as well as leveling the acuity of patients by ward.

There was a tremendous emphasis during the early period on a 'humane' approach to psychiatric treatment ("moral therapy") allowing the individual as much liberality as his/her condition would permit, which was common ofr the period. Several low-acuity wards were unlocked for periods of time, and grounds privileges was a common feature of daily life. Work assignments became a significant feature of a patient's daily routine, many focusing on the workings of the state farm. They were not limited to farm work, other occpational departments include: Administration, Bakery, Billiard room, Boiler room, Bric-a-brac shop, Brush shop, Butcher, Carpenter shop, Dispensary, Garden, Kitchen, Laundry, Machinists, Mattress shop, News-room, Out-door improvement, Painters, Plasterers, Plumbers, Printing office, Scroll saw shop, Shoemakers, Stables, Store-rooms, Tailors, Wards and dining rooms and Weavers. However, with the change in Pennsylvania State Law in the 1970's, hospital patients were no longer permitted to be involved in farm labor. Thereafter, the farmlands were employed by separates agencies of the city of Norristown, namely Norris-City and Norristown Farm Park.

The hospital was organized into three sections - men, women, and a business section headed by a steward. Each section was completely independent of the other, with almost completely separate services. The staff of the men's unit was for sometime all men, and the staff of the women's unit all women. A Nursing School was established in 1897, at this time the hospital census had passed two-thousand patients. Accomodation was also made for nurses on the grounds with the construction of a 'Nurses Home', which is still standing, but not operating under the direct jursidiction of the state hospital.

During the year 1901, 213 employees were listed on the books, most of whom either resided on the grounds or in the neighboring residences. Proportion of attendants to average number of patients was 1 to 9.5. The wages that were paid to attendants totaled some $59,903.00. Weekly per capita cost of operations was $3.29.

In 1923 the hospital's Board of Trustees voted to combine under one management with a medical superintendent. Dr. Frederick C. Robbins was the first superintendent under this combined system. The 1920's and 1930's saw the development of specialized departments such as Social Work, Occupational Therapy, and Psychology. Some years later, Volunteer Resources, Pateint Recreation, and Vocational Services were formally established as independent departments.

The renowned Arthur P. Noyes became Superintendent in 1936 and remained in that position until 1959. Dr. Noyes started the Psychiatric Residency Program which was to be in operation for almost fifty years. He opened new hospital gates (Gate #2, #3 and #4) and introduced many innovations in therapeutic treatment. His magnum opus, 'Modern Clinical Psychiatry', is considered a classic in the field of Psychiatry.

During the 1930's and 1940's electro shock therapy (ECT), insulin coma therapy, and lobotomies became common methods of treatment. The usage of psychotropic (anti-psychotic) medications began in the early 1950's with the advent of Thorazine. Medications were able to help control and lessen the severity of many of the symptoms and behaviors associated with mental illness.

Specialized treatment units for substance abuse, social rehabilitation, geriatrics, adolescents, forensics, among others, were developed during the latter 1950's and into the 1960's. There was an emphasis on social and vocational rehabilitation to prepare persons for community re-entry.

Later years

The late 1960's and early 1970's stressed an emphasis on placement of many patients into the community. The census began to drop significantly. The number of inpatients dropped from about 3200 in February 1968 to slightly over 1700 in May, 1973. By the early 1970's, each patient had an individualized personal treatment plan and met regularly with a multi-disciplinary treatment team. This concept continues to the present with each patient having a period of treatment and activity participation each day.

In more recent years, Norristown State Hospital has assimilated multiple patients and staff from the closures of other state hospitals so now it is the only remaining state hospital in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Many buildings on the grounds are no longer operational. Others still are leased to other mental health agencies, namely: Circle Lodge, Community Homeless Outreach Center (CHOC), STAR-Carelink and Montgomery County Emergency Services.