I'm eager for the weather to improve so that I can start going out again in search of markers (and other adventures - I have some ideas up my sleeve). I'm also looking forward to throwing off the last of this lingering cough and getting my voice back to normal, as that's kind of necessary for a project I've been contemplating for a while. In the meantime, I'm trying to devote my energies to tackling a number of other things, which of course includes blog posts.
For this week's quest, we're going to venture out to lovely Harrisburg and take a look at one of the many beautiful buildings found there. This one isn't like most of the others, though; it sits on a lonely hillside, somewhat removed from the bustle of the city, and no - you can't go inside.
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| The marker stands at the entrance to the hospital grounds at 2300 North Cameron Street. |
Under the supervision of a board of nine volunteer trustees, land was purchased on a hill overlooking Harrisburg, and they began gathering funds to build the facility. In 1848 they shortened the hospital name to the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital (still not cool by modern standards, but at least much easier to say) and construction began. The first building, the Main Building, was completed in 1851 and could house 250 patients, the first of whom was admitted on October 6th of that year. An adjacent farm provided both therapy for patients and also food and livestock for the hospital, so that it could be relatively self-sufficient. Either the patients themselves or the counties from which they hailed were responsible for paying their weekly maintenance fee, which ranged between $2 and $10 depending on the individual's circumstances; this covered their board and medical care by hospital staff.
This was the first "state hospital," as they came to be known, for those with mental challenges. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, an objective was pursued to remove mental health patients (or the insane, as they were called at the time) from regional poorhouses and bring them to a state hospital. The Board of Public Charities, established in 1869, paid regular visits to all the state hospitals and similar facilities in order to report to the government about the quality of care being provided; this Board couldn't actually make direct changes to the way things were done in these places, but over time they were able to cause the care to be improved by creating public awareness.
Probably the most famous person to be a patient at the hospital was Anne Drinker, a Philadelphia native who wrote poetry under the pen name of Edith May. She was confined to various mental hospitals against her will following the death of her mother; it's believed that her father was trying to gain control of her share of her mother's considerable estate. In 1885 (by which time her father had died) she was transferred to the Harrisburg facility as a sort of holiday, and since the staff there saw no symptoms of insanity, she was allowed to remain there until finally, aided by improved legislation, she was released after a total of ten years of unjust hospitalization.
By the dawn of the 20th century, the hospital was in dire need of updates. The Main Building in particular needed to be replaced, as it was outdated and entirely too small. By 1912, the entire facility had been rebuilt on what was known as the "Cottage Plan," which was pretty much what it sounds like; it was popular in Great Britain for providing medical care to people in more remote villages, and the buildings resembled extremely nice cottages. Harrisburg's rebuilt hospital complex covered more than 1,000 acres and consisting of more than 70 buildings; half the campus was dedicated to men, the other half to women. In 1921 the facility's name was changed to the much nicer Harrisburg State Hospital, and the Board of Public Charities was dissolved and replaced with the Department of Public Welfare. In addition to the on-site farm, the hospital had its own power plant and stores, and was familiarly known as the "City on the Hill." It was critically understaffed during the World Wars, especially on the men's side of the campus, and this caused an unfortunate reduction in the services the hospital could offer.
In 1955 more sweeping changes took place. The Department of Public Welfare was appointed to take charge of the hospital's administrative responsibilities, including the appointment of the Superintendent and the establishment of rules and protocols for running the place. The board of trustees were given reduced and very specific duties, while the new Commissioner of Mental Health became responsible for Pennsylvania's overall mental health programs. But the need for state hospitals like Harrisburg began to wane as the second half of the 20th century continued; with the development of new medications and the growing movement for deinstitutionalization (that is, working toward the goal of patients eventually going home or at least to smaller facilities) caused the number of patients to steadily decline.
Ultimately, as it was decided the need for such a facility no longer existed, Harrisburg State Hospital closed its doors for good on January 27, 2006. Much of the land was sold off; the Dix Museum, which celebrated the life and work of the hospital's instigator Dorothea Dix, was closed to the public, though it's one of the more than fifty buildings still standing. The hospital campus was a filming set on a few more occasions - in 2009 for the film Another Harvest Moon, in 2010 for an episode of the Discovery Channel series Ghost Lab, and in 2021 for two episodes of the Discovery+ series Ghost Nation. Many of the buildings are used for office or storage space by assorted Harrisburg agencies.
The story doesn't quite end here, though. The state government had been considering selling the property, but as of 2022 they've changed their tune and will instead be redeveloping it. The first phase of the plan involves separating the utility system, which will grant each building the ability to control its own electricity, water, and steam usage. From there, the assigned team will conduct a utilization study to figure out how best to use each of the buildings on the 295 acres remaining. The PHMC will be assisting with this, in order to preserve the historical importance of the grounds and each of the buildings. Finally, they will use part of the grounds to create a scientific laboratory for use by multiple agencies, including the state police and the Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Environmental Protection. It should be a very interesting development and I think it will be an excellent use of the facility that, thankfully, is no longer needed for its original purpose.
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
Very interesting! Thank you for researching this information. I have always been fascinated by the story behind the Harrisburg State Hospital.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
DeleteLoved this article very informative and well written. Great work! I too Dorothea Dix's name from high school history but before reading your article I had no idea why 😂 Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Michael, I'm glad you enjoyed!
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