Main Page

__NOTITLE__

Welcome to Asylum Projects, A historic asylum wiki anyone can edit. 2,424 articles and counting

We need your help! Click here to find out how.

Mission Statement

The Mission

The mission of this site is to archive both historical and current information on asylums across the United States and around the world.

The Statement

This site is dedicated to the history of asylums in all forms. The term of asylum is applied to not only what is commonly thought of: mental hospitals, but can also be applied to sanatoriums, state training schools, reform schools, almshouses, and orphanages. These institutions have and continue to play a major part in today's society.

Everyone throughout the United States and in many other countries has in one way or another felt the touch of these institutions. These places have both directly and indirectly affected people and their families. They have shaped lives and created many popular myths about them.

With all that in mind, this site was created to help in the historical research of any institutions that can be classified as an asylum. It was created for both serious researchers, those who are doing genealogical research, and people with an interest in asylums.

Featured Article Of The Week Chicago State Hospital In 1851, the county poor farm was established at the town of Jefferson, Ill., about 12 miles northwest of Chicago. The farm consisted of 160 acres of fairly improved land and was formerly owned by Peter Ludby, who located it in 1839. Additional land was purchased in 1860 and in 1884. In 1915, the land consisted of 234 acres. By November 1854, the county poorhouse was nearly finished. The building was of brick, three stories high and a basement, and cost about $25,000. In 1858, Dr. D. B. Fonda served as the physician for the poorhouse and the insane departments. At the time, the building of the insane asylum, 200 feet south of the almshouse hospital, was contemplated. Click here for more... Archive, Future Featured Articles. Featured Image Of The Week Southern Hospital for the Insane, located at Anna, Union County, founded by act of the Legislature in 1869. The original site comprised 290 acres and cost a little more than $22,0000, of which one-fourth was donated by citizens of the county. The construction of buildings was begun in 1869, but it was not until March 1875, that the north wing (the first completed) was ready for occupancy. Other portions were completed a year later. The Trustees purchased 160 additional acres in 1883. The first cost (up to September, 1876) was nearly $635,000. In 1881 one wing of the main building was destroyed by fire, and was subsequently rebuilt; the patients being, meanwhile, cared for in temporary wooden barracks. Archive, Future Featured Images.

Asylum News   (news you can edit!) February 7, 2016 Clarinda struggles to fill former hospital The 128-year-old former mental health institute in the small southwest Iowa city of Clarinda isn’t your typical real estate opportunity, and so far no one is rushing to move in. More than seven months after the state closed the Clarinda Mental Health Institute, much of the sprawling building remains empty, including entire floors that haven’t been used in decades. February 1, 2016 Efforts continue to preserve other parts of former Peoria State Hospital grounds Christina Morris happily remembers Sunday morning breakfasts with her grandparents, followed by visits to the peaceful cemeteries on the grounds of the Peoria State Hospital, where some family members are buried. “My interest with the state hospital started when I was about 7 years old,” Morris said in a recent interview. “When I would come onto the grounds (my grandfather) would say that this was a place of special people. (By special) I thought he meant giants, because these buildings were so big and beautiful and immaculate to me. I just was enamored by how beautiful it was.” January 7, 2016 That Time The United States Sterilized 60,000 Of Its Citizens Not too long ago, more than 60,000 people were sterilized in the United States based on eugenic laws. Most of these operations were performed before the 1960s in institutions for the so-called “mentally ill” or “mentally deficient.” In the early 20th century across the country, medical superintendents, legislators, and social reformers affiliated with an emerging eugenics movement joined forces to put sterilization laws on the books. January, 6, 2016 Pa. hires firm to develop plan for Harrisburg State Hospital site Harrisburg, PA-The state has hired a Lancaster planning company to help it figure out what to do with the former Harrisburg State Hospital, which closed 10 years ago. Since closing in 2006, the hospital complex has housed state workers from the state police, Department of General Services and the Department of Human Services. It is now part of the larger DGS Annex property, which encompasses 303 acres across Harrisburg and Susquehanna Township.